The Legislative Assembly of Tonga has unanimously passed the Tonga Climate Change Fund Bill 2021.
Tonga Climate Change Fund Bill 2021 tabled in Parliament this morning is for the establishment of a national climate change fund.
The Bill aims to increase Tonga’s potential to receive financial aid from national and international sources for financing of national climate change projects on climate change adaptation and mitigation.
In a letter from the Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa said the Bill enables Tonga Government to apply for multi-million-dollar climate change projects from Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, Global Environment Facility, and other resilience funds.
He added the Bill will guarantee donors of a check and balance mechanism to hold recipients’ accountability and transparency.
The purposes of the Climate Change Fund is to collect resources and direct them toward approved climate change activities, programs and projects that promote national climate change priorities, facilitate disaster risk reduction, and build national resilience.
It is also to manage funds from public, private, multilateral, and bilateral sources to maximise the Kingdom’s ability to advance national climate change priorities and ensure long-term sustainability of the Fund.
The Climate Change Fund is to assist Tonga’s effort to achieve goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and other related conventions