The Adaptation Fund has launched a new USD 10 million pilot small grants programme (Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator, AFCIA) to foster innovation in adaptation in developing countries at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid. The AFCIA targets a broad range of potential finance recipients, including governments, non-governmental organisations, community groups, young innovators and other vulnerable groups.

The AFCIA will provide small grants to developing countries to support innovation for effective, long-term adaptation to climate change and is part of the Adaptation Fund’s Innovation Facility (please click here for more information). Two of the Adaptation Fund’s accredited Multilateral Implementing Entities (MIEs), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), receive USD 5 million each to administer and aggregate a project of small grants (up to USD 250,000 each). The Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), which is the operational arm of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Technology Mechanism, works in conjunction with UNEP as an executing entity in the AFCIA.

The AFCIA will focus on producing two of the expected results of the ‘Strategic Focus 2 (Innovation)’ in the Adaptation Fund Medium-Term Strategy 2018-2022 (please click here for more information), which are:

• (Expected Results 3) New innovations encouraged and accelerated - Development of innovative adaptation practices, tools and technologies encouraged and accelerated; and
• (Expected Result 4) Evidence base generated - Evidence of effective, efficient adaptation practices, products and technologies generated as a basis for implementing entities and other funds to assess scaling up.

Please note that UNDP and UNEP-CTCN provide different services to support innovation in adaptation to developing countries in the AFCIA. 

•  (UNDP) Grant funding is provided to applicants on a competitive basis. Selected grantees will operate and manage their projects by themselves with support from UNDP. Grant funding is open to Not-for-profit, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) including Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Business Member Associations (BMOs), and other Associations, Cooperatives, or Community Based Organisations registered in a developing country.
•  (UNEP-CTCN) Technical assistance will be provided to developing countries on a competitive basis. A selected application will be further developed to design a customised solution tailored to the need of developing country, and the solution will be implemented in the country by a technology provider selected by the CTCN. Please note that the application should be signed by the national focal point to the CTCN (National Designated Entity, NDE) and submitted via the programme webpage.  

Please check more details on the UNDP programme and the UNEP-CTCN programme either by clicking on the application buttons or through the web-links as below:
•     UNDP
•     UNEP-CTCN