By Abdullahi Lukman
The Adaptation Fund Board has approved more than $125 million in new adaptation projects for vulnerable countries, marking a near-record in funding and strengthening the Fund’s global portfolio.
The approvals come as the Fund moves closer to fully operating under the Paris Agreement.
The Board cleared $125.6 million in projects, almost matching its previous record of $137 million set in April 2025. Funding includes seven single-country projects in Armenia, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mexico, implemented by national entities under the Fund’s Direct Access program, and three regional projects in the Dominican Republic, Egypt, and Grenada, totaling $76.5 million.
Notably, Grenada and Mexico received their first regular Adaptation Fund projects.
Additional grants were approved through Locally Led Adaptation (LLA) and Innovation windows.
These include $12 million to the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, $10 million to UNDP for Africa, $5 million for a large innovation project in Belize, and nearly $15 million for regional innovation projects in Europe and Africa.
A $5 million Pacific Community project will aggregate small innovation grants under the Fund’s Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA). A $750,000 innovation and learning grant in Costa Rica was also approved.
The Board endorsed 18 additional project concepts and pre-concepts and approved $1.3 million in project formulation grants.
With these approvals, the Fund has now supported 217 projects with over $1.5 billion committed since its launch 18 years ago, surpassing the milestone of 200 projects.
In advancing its Paris Agreement transition, the Board refined draft terms for trustee services and progressed on a memorandum of understanding for secretariat services.
Other measures included approving a revised Strategic Results Framework to strengthen monitoring and evaluation and exploring a streamlined reaccreditation process.
Board Vice Chair Washington Zhakata highlighted the progress, noting the Fund’s “concrete actions for vulnerable communities” and steps to enhance systems and transparency. Head of the Adaptation Fund, Mikko Ollikainen, emphasized that the approvals advance local and country ownership through Direct Access, LLA, and Innovation projects.
The Board also expanded partnerships by inviting the World Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to submit AFCIA proposals and reaccredited the World Food Programme as a multilateral implementing entity for five years.
The next Board meeting is scheduled for April 6-10, 2026, in Bonn, Germany.
