Eswatini has been experiencing the impacts of climate change. Increasing recurrence and magnitude of droughts, increases in flash flooding resulting in landslides and accelerated erosion, and changes in rainfall patterns are some of the impacts. These impacts are affecting the people of Eswatini by increasing food insecurity and poverty levels and affecting the supply of water and energy. The frequency and intensity of extreme climate events is expected to rise, posing significant risks to Eswatini’s economy, its people’s livelihoods, and the sustainability of its natural resources base.
Water is the main channel through which Eswatini’s people, environment, and overall development processes experience the impacts of climate change - hence the need for investments in water-related projects for building climate resilience in the country. To address these challenges, the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs (MTEA) and the Global Water Partnership (GWP) as the implementing partner through this readiness project are expected to strengthen the capacity for prioritising and developing project ideas and concept notes to access climate finance. This will enable Eswatini to systematically advance the preparation of bankable investment funding proposals that will support the country in building a climate-resilient and green economy with a focus on the water sector. Importantly, by introducing gender-mainstreaming for climate action at the national policy level, this readiness project is expected to introduce a paradigm shift towards more equal climate resilience planning and programming, thereby contributing to sustained resilience in Eswatini’s populations, the ecosystems that their livelihoods depend upon, and the country’s overall economy.
This project will run for a period of 18 months. It was initiated in June 2022 and will run to December 2023. The direct beneficiaries are the Climate Change Focal Point/NDA (the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, and the National Climate Change Committee), the sectoral ministries that are most vulnerable to climate change (water, agriculture, health, mining, energy, tourism, wildlife), and non-state actors, including the private sector, that have a role in climate change actions in water-related areas and the Gender Coordination Unit at the Deputy Prime Minister’s office.
Project Objective and Outcomes
Project Objective: To strengthen capacity for prioritising and developing project ideas and concept notes to access climate finance.
The key outcomes of the project include:
- Capacities of the Climate NDA (MTEA) enhanced: this will be achieved through the development of a private sector engagement strategy to ensure that the role of the private sector in building climate resilient and low-emission economy in Eswatini is well considered. In addition to this, a gender action framework will be developed to enable the NDA in making sure that climate finance investments are inclusive and contribute to addressing gender inequalities in the country.
- Areas for water-related climate investment prioritised: a financing strategy and implementation roadmap will be developed for climate technologies that can contribute to water use efficiency and build climate resilience in Eswatini.
- 3 high-quality water-related concept notes developed and submitted to GCF.
- Knowledge management and sharing experience mechanism strengthened: this will be achieved through the preparation of project development guidance notes that capture best practices and lessons. This will be followed by facilitating sharing experiences and learning.