ECOWAS has been urged to enhance the capacity of its member states to access the Global Climate Fund (GCF) to assist developing countries counter the effects of climate change.
This formed part of recommendations of a three-day regional workshop for accessing the GCF organised by the ECOWAS in Abuja on Friday.
The GCF is a fund within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was established in 2010 by the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC.
Pledges to the fund reached 10.2 billion dollars on May 28, 2015.
Mr Bougonou Djeri-Alassani, Head of Division, Environmental Policies and Regulations, Environment Directorate of the commission gave a summary of recommendations.
Djeri-Alassani said the meeting urged member states to enhance capacity to develop projects in line with the GCF recommendations.
He said: “The only way to access this fund is to develop project proposals to submit to the GCF.
“We do not have enough capacity to do that but there is need for our member states to allocate some money for that.
“We need to make efforts ourselves, with the support of our partners, to go in that way.”
He added that the meeting also recommended that ECOWAS and GCF support member countries to develop project proposals.
He also said that member countries that had accessed funds or begun the process were urged to share their experiences and expertise with other member countries.
“We need to also monitor and support member states; some are leading the process, some just started.
“There is no deadline to access the fund; the first who make submissions will be the first to be served,” he added.
Djeri-Alassani said that there was no specific allocation to countries to fund projects, and added that Mali, Senegal and The Gambia had accessed the climate fund.
Also, Mr Alpha Kaloga, GCF Regional Adviser, Africa, said the training was recommended for relevant authorities of member states to understand policies and procedures to access the fund.
Kaloga said the meeting developed a roadmap with each member state to address challenges faced by countries within the sub-region.
“There are several things to do and the first step is to train the national designated authorities of member states to understand the policy and procedure of this fund.
“Countries should mobilise stakeholders to bring sectoral ministries together to have a projects in line with the GCF criteria; the institutions have to meet international standards,” he said.
He further added that member states would have ownership of their projects if they met the required recommendations.