UNEP presented project on microfinance for sustainable adaptation to climate change in Bonn

The United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, and officials from the governments of Germany, Colombia and Peru today presented the results to date of the microfinance for adaptation to climate change based on ecosystems project, MEbA, under the preparatory meeting in Bonn for the 22nd Conference of the Parties, COP22, to be held in Marrakech in November.

In the three years of implementation, MEbA has provided technical assistance for the management of agroclimatic risks to five microfinance institutions in Colombia and Peru and has promoted more than 4500 microloans, equivalent to nearly 6 million dollar in private investment in ecosystem based adaptation measures.

The project is implemented in the Andes of Colombia and Peru by UNEP and its Collaborating Centre Frankfurt School, with funds from the German government.

"Ecosystem-based adaptation lies in using natural infrastructure to help people adapt to climate change. By maintaining ecosystems and their ability to provide services, climate resilience of people and communities can improve" said Gustavo Máñez, UNEP climate change coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Through this initiative thousands of small farmers in Peru and Colombia have succeeded in diversifying their production and income sources, improving natural resources management and increasing productivity and resilience.

"MEbA demonstrates how the private sector can be a key player in financing adaptation to climate change and reducing risks" Máñez said.

The Bonn meeting took place after 176 countries and the European Union signed the Paris Agreement, the subscription was officially opened in New York on April 22.

For more information about the MEbA initiative and its impact on vulnerable rural populations in the Andes of Peru and Colombia, access: http://unepmeba.org