Training workshop on climate finance access in the Arab States
Overview and objectives of training workshop
Through the process of preparing the Technical Assessment and Strategy in the context of the Needs-Based Finance Project, Arab States expressed the need to undertake training in accessing climate finance to support their priority climate actions. In this context, the UNFCCC secretariat and its Regional Collaboration Center for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia based in Dubai are organizing this training workshop with the objective of:
Validating the Climate Finance Access and Mobilization Strategy for the Arab States;
Developing skills and knowledge in the development and preparation of priority adaptation and mitigation projects to address the needs of Arab States;
Building the capacity of the participants to translate project concepts into fundable project proposals.
This workshop should be viewed as an initial step in understanding access requirements of different sources of climate finance by going through each phase of the project development process in an interactive approach. At the end of the workshop, with the assistance of international organizations, participants will produce draft concept notes that Arab States can collectively translate into project proposals to mobilize finance from both public and private sources at the international, regional and national level.
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In collaboration with:
With contribution from:
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME
DAY 1: 18 September 2022
Time
Description
08:00 – 09:00
Registration
09:00 – 09:30
Opening session and Group photo
09:30 – 09:45
Tea/Coffee break
9:45 – 10:00
Introduction
This session will provide an overview and objectives of the training workshop and an opportunity to hear the participants’ expectations.
CLIMATE FINANCE ACCESS AND MOBILIZATION STRATEGY
10:00 – 10:30
Session 1: Overview of technical assessment on climate finance and validation of draft Arab States Climate Finance Access and Mobilization strategy
This session will present the main findings of the technical assessment on climate finance in the Arab States and the main pillars and activities of the Draft Arab States Climate Finance Access and Mobilization strategy. The draft has been based on results of the Technical Assessment conducted in a consultative manner under the UNFCCC – Needs Based Finance Project.
10:30 – 11:30
Session 2: Enhancing regional collaboration (closed meeting for country representatives)
This session will discuss technical recommendations on the implementation of the strategy and possible areas of collaboration among Arab countries, ahead of the official adoption of the Strategy at political level.
TRAINING ON CLIMATE FINANCE ACCESS AND MOBILIZATION
11:30 – 12:00
Q&A with representatives of international financial institutions relating to overall access to climate finance
12:00 – 13:30
Session 3: Overview of project cycles
This session will provide an overview of the project development processes of different funding institutions; highlighting the roles, requirements and key players for each phase of the process, including accreditation of implementing entities.
13:30 – 14:30
Lunch break
14:30 – 16:00
Session 4: Identification of national and regional priorities and their climate rationale
This session will expand on the information discussed in sessions 1 & 2 on the Strategy, with the aim of identifying 3 – 5 regional programme ideas that can be further developed throughout the training. The session will commence with a presentation of the tools and approaches that can be used in identifying and prioritizing potential regional programmes for further development, followed by an interactive exercise and discussion on which ideas can be carried through the latter sessions of the workshop, with the aim at being submitted for funding in an investment forum organized in 2023 under the auspices of the UNFCCC - Needs Based Finance project. Participants will have the opportunity to work with trainers and partners from international funds on developing the regional projects’ climate rationale.
DAY 2: 19 September 2022
Time
Description
09:00 – 10:30
Session 5: Project Financing: An overview of sources, channels and instruments of climate finance available in the Arab region for the identified priorities
This session will aim to enhance the understanding of the role of public sector financing by presenting case studies on the climate finance landscape in Arab States, as well as various sources, channels and instruments of climate finance. The session will also look into the role of private sector in the mobilization and delivery of climate finance in the Arab world. The examples presented will showcase how public and private finance can be effectively blended with different sources and instruments (concessional loans, grants, equity, green/climate bonds and carbon pricing) to generate the needed capital to support climate projects and programmes. The session will then discuss which of these sources and instruments are best fit for the prioritized project ideas identified in session 4.
10:30 – 10:45
Tea/Coffee break
10:45 – 12:15
Session 6: Determining project bankability and establishing the investment framework
The concept of project bankability and financial feasibility will be addressed, with respective multilateral climate funds providing insight into how they understand and assess if a project/programme is viable and profitable, with a particular focus on ideas prioritized in session 4. Partners will also present insights on their investment and risk management frameworks.
12:15 – 13:15
Lunch break
13:15 – 14:00
Session 7: Social and gender considerations, Environmental and Social Safeguards
This session will focus on gender and social considerations in designing project proposals, particularly proposals being developed in this training. Discussions will also touch on the importance of multi-stakeholder consultation processes for developing fit-for-purpose and inclusive programmes. Finally, the session will provide an overview of environmental and social safeguards that need to be in place to reduce and prevent potential negative project impacts to the environment and the communities.
14:00 – 14:45
Session 8: The importance of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)
This session will consider project monitoring and evaluation designs, such as results-based monitoring and evaluation (RBM) frameworks, which funding institutions require. The session will engage multilateral climate funds on their M&E requirements, and further explore how these designs can be incorporated into the project document.
14:45 – 15:00
Tea/Coffee break
15:00 – 16:00
Session 9: Climate finance access and mobilization frameworks in Arab States: challenges, solutions and lessons learned
This interactive session will build on all previous discussions to highlight and further explore the successful experiences in the Arab region in establishing a framework for integrating climate finance into national processes and governance mechanism along with the institutional and policy support needed to mobilize and access climate finance at scale. In addition, this session will also discuss the remaining challenges and gaps in mobilizing and accessing climate finance, and explore concrete solutions to the issues around access to climate finance, including identifying the roles of different key players in resolving the issues, particularly in relation to the prioritized regional programme ideas.
DAY 3: 20 September 2022
Time
Description
09:00 – 11:00
Session 10.1: Working session - Project concept and project logical framework
Participants will be walked through a simple concept note template for further developing their potential regional programme ideas with the intention of presenting these programme concepts in Session 10.2. Then, participants will work with the partners in developing a simple logical framework for their regional project/programme idea, including identifying inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts for their projects. The intention is for participants to use the notes, learning and insight from Sessions 3-9 to structure their idea using a logical framework, and flesh out a concept note template.
11:00 – 11:15
Tea/Coffee break
11:15 – 12:45
Session 10.2: Presentation of project concepts
During this session the participants will have an opportunity to present their project concepts they have developed during the workshop. The partners will provide feedback and discuss next steps so that the participants have a list of things they can do after the workshop to move the project concept further.
12:45 – 13:45
Lunch
13:45 –14:30
Session 11: Next steps
Building on partners’ feedback in session 10.2 and on learning outcomes of the training, participants will collectively work on a short-term action plan to mainstream the project ideas at national level and obtain needed endorsement/feedback from national partners. Participants will also discuss regional coordination needs in that regard. The objective is to have a clear set of milestones that would push the project ideas developed during the training towards implementation, ahead of the planned regional investment forum.
14:30 – 15:00
Closing session
