Iceland contributes USD 1.2 million for climate action in vulnerable nations

New York: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has received a new contribution of approximately $1.2 million in funding from the government of Iceland to support vulnerable countries on climate action.

With this contribution, Iceland joins Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the European Union (EU), Spain, and Italy as the UNDP's newest Climate Promise funding partner supporting the next phase of this pioneering and groundbreaking initiative.

The UNDP's Climate Promise is the largest global climate and development offer of support to countries on their national pledges to the Paris Agreement.

Together with its partners, the initiative currently supports 120 countries, representing 80 per cent of all developing countries worldwide, to define their national climate pledges, also known as the national determined contributions (NDCs), by engaging stakeholders across government and society.

To date, 89 of these countries have submitted NDCs to the UNFCCC.

On November 3, during the first week of COP26, UNDP launched the next phase of the Climate Promise - From Pledge to Impact - scaling up its support to turn NDC targets into concrete action in at least 100 countries.

This contribution will allow countries to accelerate inclusive action to meet their targets, while continuing to push for greater ambition in climate action.

"We warmly welcome Iceland's support as it joins the next chapter of UNDP's Climate Promise, which is assisting communities on the frontlines of climate change to respond and adapt to this ever-increasing threat," says UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.

"In many ways, Nationally Determined Contributions represent a country's sovereign investment plan to address the climate emergency. They are also a valuable policy instrument to drive forward wider sustainable development. Through the Climate Promise, we will also be able to surface and scale-up home-grown climate solutions that will accelerate progress towards the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Global Goals."

Upon signing of the contribution, Thordis Kolbrun Gylfadottir, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Cooperation of Iceland, said: "Climate change is a global threat which countries must respond to collectively. Iceland is answering the call of developing countries, most recently heard at COP26; by significantly increasing its contributions to climate finance.

"UNDP's Climate Promise is a strategically important program, which we are happy to support. We look forward to this new partnership with UNDP."

Iceland's new contribution comes on top of over $20 million, which Climate Promise partners have provided for the next phase of the initiative in 2021.

The initiative is also a contribution to the NDC Partnership, a coalition of countries and institutions collaborating on climate action through NDCs, where UNDP is one of the largest implementers.