Climate Finance for community resilience

Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today the launch of the Climate Finance for Community Resilience Programme. The new programme will support inclusive, locally-led climate action in the Pacific.

“Climate change is profoundly shaping the lives of communities, impacting food security, nutrition, clean water, health, and livelihoods across our Blue Pacific Continent — Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, and further afield,’ Nanaia Mahuta said.

“This programme is a key component of Aotearoa New Zealand’s International Climate Finance Strategy Tuia te Waka a Kiwa and aims to address the impacts of climate change on vulnerable groups by enhancing community-level resilience.

“I have seen first-hand the challenges communities are facing, including on recent visits in, and to, the region. Aotearoa New Zealand is committed to working with our Pacific whanaunga so we can respond to climate change together: tātou, tātou,” Nanaia Mahuta said.

The Climate Finance for Community Resilience Programme will be delivered in partnership with Aotearoa New Zealand non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and with local Pacific and Timor-Leste civil society organisations.

The first initiative under the programme will be a $5.5 million Manaaki Contestable Fund round for small and medium sized New Zealand NGOs that meet the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s requirements. Further funding will follow to larger NGOs and wider civil society groups.

“Our NGO partners and local civil society organisations bring decades of experience in delivering community-based mitigation and adaptation work. They play a critical role in bridging the gap between governments and communities and have deep and well-established relationships and networks at the community level.

“In my engagements with NGOs — both here in Aotearoa New Zealand and in our wider region — I have heard the challenges they have faced accessing climate finance to deliver community level work. I see this programme as a positive step to ensure these organisations continue to deliver impactful projects that support local communities across the Pacific,” Nanaia Mahuta said.