CTCN 2022 Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA)

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 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 administrate 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: New innovations encouraged and accelerated - Development of innovative adaptation practices, tools and technologies encouraged and accelerated; and 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.