How trying to access climate funding fosters human rights and sustainable development

When countries decide to try accessing big-scale climate funds for their national mitigation and adaptation projects (i.e. the Adaptation Fund or the Green Climate Fund) they are required to thoughtfully prepare, demonstrating governmental capacity in such regard, and putting in place a legal and policy framework that establishes national mitigation and adaptation priorities. Such framework will be normally preceded by climate change studies, impact analyses and official consultations - in many countries the first of its kind. 

This process of choosing climate change-related priorities and building national capacity is an opportunity to consider, evaluate and mainstream different human rights and environmental issues (i.e. how land degradation impacts on livelihoods) into different levels (national, regional, local) and subjects (economy, labor, social protection) of policy making. Also, it will usually build around current national development plans, bringing a new perspective and, to some extent, ‘greening’ them. 

Another positive feature of the process of trying to access climate funds is that it forces partners from different backgrounds and interests to work together and harmonize their approaches. No one can fight the impacts of climate change alone. Climate change impacts are multi-faceted, so it should be the response. Governmental actors, civil society, international organizations, international donors and private sector need to be counted and included in the design and implementation of whatever long-term responses are chosen.  

Moreover, climate change brings a new way of looking into conflict. It offers a new approach to traditional conflict analysis and could inspire potential ways forward on its resolution. Climate change is aggravating conflicts at different levels, many of which are based on scarce natural resources. An in-depth climate change analysis would bring scientific research together with social and anthropologic knowledge and could offer a better understanding of both the causes of conflict and how populations understand and respond to it. This could open new potential ways to reach the end of conflicts. So, the conflict angle is a powerful argument to advocate for climate funds.

All the above arguments make the process of applying for a climate grant a step that can deeply influence the development of legal and policy frameworks in countries. If well done and based on reliable studies, climate change considerations offer a possibility of making concrete development interventions environmentally sustainable, reverting on the social and economic sides of it. Climate funds offer tangible opportunities for growth and peace under a new approach based on human rights and environmental protection, that implies the forging of new alliances and can shape new solutions for needy populations.