_: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) organized on March 14 and 15, 2024 in Banfora in the Cascades region, an awareness session for the benefit of members of regional and municipal councils and other structures of the Cascades. This awareness-raising focused on climate information and climate finance.
After the first session held in Bobo-Dioulasso in the Hauts-Bassins, it was the turn of Banfora to host the second session of its kind, organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Indeed, IUCN has benefited from funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), in order to strengthen the technical and operational capacities of the Designated National Authority (DNA) as part of the preparation program entitled ‘Capacity Building technical and operational aspects of the designated national authority and its network.
During the 48 hours of discussions, the participants in this session, coming from the provinces of Léraba and Comoé, were equipped with current events an
d projections on climate change in Burkina Faso, and the generalities of climate finance. .
According to the IUCN project manager and representative of the institution’s program manager, Bassourou Boyla, this session is of capital importance for the AND.
According to him, it will specifically inform these actors, both on climate change and the national political and institutional mechanisms put in place to mobilize climate financing.
Also, he continued, it will make it possible, among other things, to reduce the information gaps between central and local administrations and between scientists and local communities and to inform regional and local actors on the mechanisms and procedures of the FVC.
According to Bassourou Boyla, the IUCN and its partners are aware that the achievement of Burkina Faso’s climate commitments requires the existence of reliable and available climate information and skills at all national administrative scales to enable the translation of the theory into practice.
It should be r
emembered that the Green Climate Fund is a mechanism funded by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
In the opinion of Basile Ouédraogo representing the AND of the GCF, this fund is the largest at the global level which was set up to enable populations to adapt to climate change and to also enable developing countries to be able to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
In the GCF mechanism, there are several windows to access resources, including the Readiness window (readiness support projects).
It is precisely within this framework that resources were mobilized from the GCF to strengthen the capacities of the AND and its network, which constitutes all national stakeholders.
As part of the implementation of this Readiness program, it is planned to strengthen the capacities of actors at the local level, in particular the special delegations on climate information and climate finance.
The Technical Advisor to the Governor of the Cascades, Mamadou Traoré, the represe
ntative, also recalled the importance of the session.
‘We are all aware that this challenge transcends geographical boundaries and requires concerted action at all levels of governance,’ he said.
Mamadou Traoré also invited the various stakeholders to actively participate in this session, to share knowledge and experiences, and to explore together innovative solutions to meet the challenges of climate change in the Cascades region.
Source: Burkina Information Agency