LONDON (Reuters) -Multilateral lender the Climate Investment Funds said on Monday its board had agreed on a plan to help restore Fiji’s natural ecosystems and bolster the island’s ability to withstand the impacts of global warming.
The move comes ahead of the next round of U.N. climate talks in November, with Fiji and other Small Island Developing States pushing the world to do more to rein in greenhouse gas emissions and provide the financing they need to cope with climate change.
CIF said it would provide $27 million in financing and aims to draw in a further $20 million from the World Bank and Progreen, a multi-donor effort to support development in a way that helps protect biodiversity.
The money will fund a range of projects across land and sea and impact more than 80,000 people in a country that relies on tourism for 40% of its economic output and where agriculture, fisheries and forestry employ 40% of the population, CIF said.
“Investing in nature is investing in a secure and prosperous future — especially for Fiji, where the natural environment underpins the economy,” CIF Chief Executive Tariye Gbadegesin said in a statement.
Cyclones and floods are estimated to cost the island 5% of its economic output every year, CIF added.
(Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Mark Porter)
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