Financing Climate Change Adaptation in Transboundary Basins

21 Financing Climate Change Adaptation in Transboundary Basins BOX 2.5. GCF Accreditation Case Study: The OSS and Consultation Mechanism of the North Sahara Aquifer System (SASS) 30 member states • 23 African countries : Algeria, Arab Republic of Egypt, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, and Uganda • 7 non-African countries : Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and Switzerland 13 member organizations OSS programs and projects are financed by voluntary contributions, grants, and donations from its members and partners Description OSS is an international, intergovernmental organization with an African focus based in Tunisia. OSS initiates and facilitates partnerships around common challenges related to shared water resources management, implementation of international agreements on desertification, biodiversity, and climate change in the Sahara and Sahel region. At the 18th GCF Board Session in 2017, the OSS was accredited as a GCF regional implementing agency. OSS is the fourth African entity to comply with GCF requirements, which makes it one of the key stakeholders in accessing climate finance in Africa. This accreditation will allow OSS to mobilize financing from the biggest climate fund endorsed by the international community. OSS is also accredited as a regional implementing entity by the AF since 2013 and by the GCF since October 2017. It accordingly provides its member countries and partners with technical and institutional support for the development of project proposals in relation with climate change adaptation and mitigation. Funded by the AF and implemented by OSS for the benefit of Uganda, the Enhancing Resilience of Communities to Climate Change through Catchment Based Integrated Management of Water and Related Resources in Uganda Project (EURECCA) project is a perfect outcome of this process. OSS has a set of policies that demonstrate the principles and procedures to assess the environmental, social and gender impacts that form an integral part of the Environmental and Social Risk Management System (ESMS) and is intended to build on the existing policies, operating procedures, and project cycle of OSS. In this context, the policy pursues the following objectives (among others): • Define a common, all-encompassing framework to incorporate environmental, social, and gender standards into the planning, appraisal, implementation, and monitoring of measures financed by OSS. • Promote transparency, predictability and accountability in the decision-making processes of environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs) and screenings. • Encourage project proponents and executing entities of projects directly funded or supported through OSS to have appropriate consideration for environmental and social impacts. • The due diligence conducted includes the level of social and environmental risks commensurate to the scale and nature of the project being financed. Source: OSS website, http://www.oss-online.org/en/who-we-are .