GCF and IICA target livestock industry in the Americas under climate change mitigation project

The Green Climate Fund (GCF), and the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA), will implement a joint project to reduce the methane emissions of the livestock industry, with funding of approximately 100 million dollars. Methane is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs).

According to a release from IICA, the first step of the initiative—the undertaking of feasibility studies through a 1.5 million dollar capital contribution by the GCF—will assist in developing more efficient production processes and will give both the private and public sectors an opportunity to pitch their projects.

Deputy Executive Director of the GCF-the world’s largest climate fund, Javier Manzanares, made the announcement during the swearing-in ceremony of Manuel Otero as Director General of IICA for a second term.

The GCF, with headquarters in the Republic of Korea, is a fund established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and it has a portfolio of 20 billion dollars. Its mission is to help developing countries to establish practices to adapt to climate change and to mitigate its effects.

IICA was accredited to the GCF last July to implement projects funded by its loan portfolio. This will enable the hemispheric agency to access resources to foster climate change adaptation and resilience initiatives for agriculture and rural areas of the Americas. Two months later, both institutions signed an agreement in support of this objective.

Manzanares explained that agriculture plays a critical role in the climate change process, as the source of 25% of GHGs (green house gases). Yet, on the other hand, it is also suffering its consequences in the form of extreme weather events.

The representative of the international organization explained that, “Now that its accreditation has been approved and the legal document to formalize this type of assistance has been signed, IICA will now be a vehicle to facilitate the procurement of resources from the Fund, for use in agriculture, forestry and other land related ventures”.

During the last United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, the GCF endorsed the declaration signed by more than 100 countries, which is proposing to bring about a 30% reduction in climate change emissions by 2030.

Manzanares pointed out that, “If we achieve this objective, current projections regarding global warming will be reduced by 0.2 degrees Celsius”. He also expressed the belief that IICA has the necessary qualities to broker the relationship between the ministers of Agriculture of the Americas and the GCF.

The official commended IICA’s role as a bridge between the agriculture sector of the Americas and other regions, and as such, he lauded the Institute’s efforts to forge ties with the African continent.

“IICA could also be a valuable partner of the countries in both mandatory and voluntary carbon credit markets”, he insisted.

“There are scores of top quality projects for the agriculture and forestry sectors and other land-related ventures”.

The IICA Director General underscored the importance of the news on the road to greater sustainability of agricultural production in the Americas.

He revealed that, “IICA would utilize its best technical teams and capacity for dialogue to drive the transformation of the agrifood systems of the region, which must be sustainable”.

Otero reaffirmed IICA’s commitment to support global efforts to mitigate climate change, particularly those focusing on adapting to its consequences.

In closing, he said that, “With this project, we are seeking to boost the efficiency of the livestock chain’s production systems, which have been the subject of much criticism, while there has been little understanding of the progress they have made. We are honored to partner with the Green Climate Fund”.