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News / 20 February 2014

Aksi! Indonesian organisations at Board Meeting Green Climate Fund

Indonesian_NGO_s_at_GCF_meeting_Bali.jpg

Currently,  the board members of the UN-backed Green Climate Fund (GCF) are meeting in Indonesia. It is the sixth board meeting since its establishment in 2011: the members, coming from 12 Western and 12 Southern countries, meet every three or four months to discuss what should be done with the huge sum of money (up to $ 100 billion a year!) that is going to be made available by the international community for climate projects in developing countries. Both ENDS, together with a group of delegates from various Southern organisations, has attended every board meeting so far.

Very small steps

Since the meeting takes place in Bali this time, it is an excellent opportunity for Titi Soentoro, founder of the Indonesian organisation "Aksi!", to convince the board members of her point of view. She will take along the members of ten other Indonesian organisations so they can make their voice heard as well. Quite a few of the topics that are being discussed during the board meeting will have serious consequences for people around the world. Often, these people are not responsible for climate change but are indeed affected by its impacts, like the communities in Indonesia that Titi has been working with for years. What climate projects will be eligible for funding? Who will get access to the fund and who will not? Who will actually make these decisions? The widely divergent interests of the various countries and groups make for a tedious process. The board of the Green Climate Fund is discussing these issues and very slowly, step by step, agreement is reached on some of them.

 

Large companies

Unfortunately not all steps are taken in the right direction, as the members of the GCF-board and international policy makers are often  too far from daily reality on the ground. Therefore, it is important that people like Titi can continue to tell the "other story" to the board members. It is the story of the people who suffer most from climate change and who know exactly what is needed. This is why the Green Climate Fund should be accessible for organisations working with exactly these people. At the moment, it is likely that only large (international) companies will be allowed to apply for funding for large projects  - supposedly climate projects. In that case organizations like Aksi!, but also national governments, which have a better view of what needs to be done at a local level, will be left with nothing.

 

Aksi!

Titi, with the support of Both ENDS, conducted a lobby training to the group of Indonesian civil society organizations in the days leading to the board meeting. With this group she traveled to Bali to speak to various board members. The group, together with eightteen other organisations present at the meeting, issued statement expressing their opinion on what should happen with the GCf. Leonie Wezendonk of Both ENDS - by now a familiar face to the board members – is in Bali to support Titi’s group. She will soon report on the progress of the meeting.

 

Read more about the statement that is issued by the 28 organisations present at the meeting in Bali.

 

Find out more on the details of the topics that the board is discussing on Leonie Wezendonk’s latest blog report. Why is it that exactly this meeting is so important to civil society organisations?

 

Read all blog reports by Both ENDS and partners .

 

Read how the Green Climate Fund should be designed according to Ken Kinney from Ghana.

 

 

 

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