At the UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, that closed on Sunday, November 20, Rwanda called for more ambitious climate action and shared its green investment opportunities. Rwanda also signed and agreed on a number of memorandums of understanding at COP27. Here are the deals Rwanda secured at the conference: Promoting cleaning cooking via €2 million partnership Rwanda and Italy agreed on a new €2 million agreement to fund two projects, which will be implemented by the Rwanda Environment Management Authority. The projects will promote sustainable afforestation, clean cooking and low-carbon energy adoption as well as improve national wetland inventories to improve wetland restoration and protection. Advancing clean cooling technologies Rwanda and the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as well as the International Finance Corporation signed an agreement to collaborate on the African Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chain (ACES). Established in 2020, ACES is a first-of-its-kind centre dedicated to sustainable, smart cold-chain, cooling and post-harvest management (PHM). The 4.8-hectare main campus in Kigali, is hosted by the University of Rwanda in Kigali in collaboration with Rwanda Polytechnic (IPRC). At COP27, the African Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain (ACES) announced that it will work with global cold-chain provider Carrier to help advance cooling development and training in Africa. Carrier is a leading global provider of healthy, safe, sustainable and intelligent building and cold chain solutions. It will collaborate in the development of the ACES cold-chain centre in Kigali, Rwanda - providing capacity building for farmers and refrigeration technicians, skills development for students and supply chain professionals, and demonstration of best-in-class sustainable cooling technology. More than 475 million tons of the world’s food can be saved annually with effective refrigeration, and more than 50 per cent of all perishable food loss could be avoided by using cold chain technology, studies show. The agreement builds on ACES and will conduct state-of-the-art applied research and provide capacity building and training, an innovation and business hub and technology testing/demonstration centre. It will connect experts, investors, agri-food business, farmer cooperatives, and energy or logistics providers to deliver sustainable cooling. Green Climate Fund – Rwanda partnership The Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Rwanda signed two agreements related to the hosting of the 36th Board Meeting of the Green Climate Fund, which will take place in Kigali in July 2023. The Green Climate Fund is a fund established within the framework of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) as an operating entity of the financial mechanism to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change. Rwanda has a partnership with the Green Climate Fund and was the first country to have a government institution, the Ministry of Environment, accredited to directly access climate finance through the fund. Rwanda is partnering with the Green Climate Fund on a number of climate investments. In 2019, the Government of Rwanda secured $32 million from GCF to strengthen the resilience of rural communities in Gicumbi District in the Northern Province. In 2021, Rwanda signed a funding agreement with GCF and IUCN to transform the Eastern Province through climate adaptation, with a GCF contribution of $33.7 million and an additional $15.8 million in co-financing from the Government of Rwanda and project partners. The fund has invested more than $100 million in the country for urgently needed climate action. EUR 46 million funding The Government of Germany provided Euros 46 million as funding to support public sector climate investments that will be managed by the Rwanda Green Fund. Rwanda and Germany also signed a joint declaration of intent on climate research and science cooperation. The declaration will facilitate scientific exchange between Rwanda and Germany, supporting scientific analyses of the impacts of climate change. In addition, during the annual Members Forum of the NDC Partnership held on the sidelines of COP27, Rwanda became co-chair of the NDC Partnership alongside the United Kingdom - a role it will hold for the next two years. The NDCs are climate action plans pledged by countries. Germany and Rwanda established the Climate and Development Partnership in March 2022. Germany has made available a total of Euros 202 million to date. The partnership enables climate initiatives in the areas of mitigation and adaptation as well as sustainable urban development. The work of the partnership is based on Rwanda’s NDC Implementation Framework. Rwanda’s green investment facility launched The delegation launched a number of initiatives that will shape the future of climate action and the sustainable finance ecosystem in Rwanda, as well as enable the private sector to play a greater role in climate action. Rwanda’s green investment facility – a $104 million initiative for the private sector powered by the Rwanda Green Fund and the Development Bank of Rwanda – was launched. A detailed plan to position Rwanda as a sustainable finance hub in Africa led by Rwanda Finance Limited was also launched. Rwanda welcomes outcomes on loss and damage compensation fund The Government of Rwanda welcomed the outcomes of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference. At the meeting, nations agreed on the Sharm El-Sheikh Implementation Plan which establishes a dedicated fund to provide financial support to the countries most vulnerable to climate change, and reaffirmed the shared commitment to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. “The world has agreed to create a fund to support countries like Rwanda when we face losses and damage from extreme weather disasters due to climate change. Rwanda welcomes this important outcome, and we look forward to seeing developed nations quickly reduce their emissions to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” said Rwanda’s Minister of Environment, Dr Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya. “At COP27, we were also pleased to advance our partnerships, launch a number of strategic initiatives and position Rwanda as an ideal destination for green investment.” Countries made progress on the global goal on adaptation. They agreed to put in place a framework to track and achieve the goal of doubling funding for adaptation. Countries designed a programme of work to speed-up emissions reductions this decade. Nations adopted rules, modalities and procedures for a cooperative approach to carbon markets, including market and non-market mechanisms established under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. A work programme was developed to guide the transition to sustainable energy supplies and economies with the goal of ensuring low emission and climate resilient development.
