GCF National Adaptation Plan project in Benin
Introduction
The project aimed to facilitate the integration of climate change adaptation into development budgeting and planning processes in Benin and increase access to local and external funding. The activities are complementary to other NAP-related initiatives and the contributions of each initiative have provided Benin with necessary information, capacities, mechanisms, and tools, to support medium and long-term adaptation planning. The main achievements of the project revolve around four essential areas, which are (i) the conduct of thematic studies feeding into the NAP process, (ii) capacity building on the tools resulting from the studies, (iii) the development of strategic documents including the NAP and (iv) engagement with the private sector.
At the end of the project implementation the economic impacts of climate change were assessed in the key sectors; the NAPs for the Energy, Forestry, Tourism and Infrastructure/Urban Development sectors were developed; and a multi-sectoral NAP was finalized based on the latter and submitted to the government in June 2022. Thus, Outcomes 1 and 2 of the project were fully achieved. Outcome 3 was mostly achieved except for the activities on regarding private sector engagement in climate finance. It is however now possible to track internal contributions to climate finance in national planning and budgeting.
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Project details
With financing from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the "Advancing the National Adaptation Plan Process in Benin" project supported the Government of Benin to overcome several barriers identified in their climate change adaptation (CCA) planning and development. At the end of the project, adaptation planning became easier thanks to the guide and guidelines combined with budget coding that have been adopted by the Ministry of Environment and that allow for the programming and monitoring of climate expenditures at both the local and national levels. Climate finance has also been strengthened thanks to exchanges with the private sector and updating the eco-taxes and other revenues collected for environmental actions as recommended in the study identifying new environmental fiscal instruments. The project also provided sensitization sessions with the members of parliament on climate finance. The National Environment and Climate Fund will now be able to respond to more requests from the communities through the various projects that it can support.
PROJECT RATIONALE
Benin was reported as one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change (155th out of 181 countries) in 2018. Temperatures are expected to rise by 2.6°C to 3.27°C by 2100, and changes in rainfall patterns and intensity will further exacerbate droughts and floods in the country. Drought, floods, and changes in rainfall patterns and intensity are the major climate risks faced by the country. In the last three decades, these phenomena have resulted in substantial losses in the infrastructure, energy and forestry sectors. In Cotonou, the economic capital city, coastal erosion and sea level rise have led to a loss of more than 400 meters of shoreline, engulfing houses and damaging tourism infrastructure.
Several barriers were identified in the 2016 initial Stocktaking Report and subsequent consultations of stakeholders: the insufficient quality or absence of economic analyses and in-depth risks and vulnerability assessments in key PAG socio-economic target sectors, the limitations of climate change coordination mechanisms to facilitate mainstreaming and monitoring of CCA, the failure to align the M&E system for climate change with the National Statistical System; and the weak capacity of the National Environment and Climate Fund (FNEC) to support sustainable funding for CCA. Benin’s main challenge related to adaptation planning is the limited technical expertise to ensure integration of CCA mainstreaming into budgeting and planning processes.
PROJECT RESULTS
The project has delivered the following results under the three outcomes
Thirteen studies were carried out, in partnership with three local universities
Four climate risk and vulnerability assessments conducted in the energy, forestry, tourism, infrastructure and urban development sector
The Climate Change Mainstreaming Guidelines and Guidebook produced under the project, facilitating the integration of climate change into national and local planning documents
The climate change website updated to provide a space to channel climate information produced in Benin
The mapping of the needs and interests of the private sector provided entry points for the private sector contribution to climate change actions
A better distribution of domestic climate finance to the National Environment and Climate Fund (FNEC) proposed after the study that identified new environmental fiscal instruments
Decree drafted to integrate CCA into planning and budgeting and to facilitate the implementation of the climate change law
14 training sessions organised for 604 actors as a part of capacity building activities
NAPs for the energy, infrastructure and urban development, tourism and forestry sectors developed and validated
The multi-sectoral NAP, which takes into account eight key development sectors and cross-cutting terms such as gender, local knowledge and climate migration, developed and validated in synergy with GIZ
Four sessions to prepare the private sector to invest in the fight against climate change held with private sector actors including (a) the agri-food sector, (b) the association of medical equipment distributors, (c) the construction industry association and (d) the cotton inter-professional grouping of agricultural producers, ginners and distributors
- National
- National Governments
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- Ministère de l'Environnement, de l'Habitat et de l'Urbanisme, Benin
News
Key results and output
Outcome 1: Economic and climate impacts are assessed and adaptation options prioritised for effective budgeting and planning
Outcome 2: Climate change adaptation mainstreaming into budgeting processes is facilitated
Outcome 3: The National Environment Climate Fund (FNEC) is strengthened to attract public and private funding for effective adaptation planning