Green Climate Fund Approves $184.8 Million for Projects in Algeria and Mexico

The Green Climate Fund (GCF), an international mechanism that finances climate action, has approved two new projects in Algeria and Mexico with a combined value of $184.8 million. The decision was taken at the fund's 46th Board meeting in Songdo, Republic of Korea. The projects will be carried out with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen climate resilience and ensure food security for rural communities.

Algeria: fighting desertification

In 1971 Algeria launched the Green Dam (Barrage Vert), an ecological belt of roughly 1,500 km across the pre-Saharan steppe, meant to curb desertification and land degradation. The new seven-year project builds on it and covers 454,138 hectares in six provinces. It is the first GCF-funded project in the country.

It will reach more than one million people and directly support over 142,000 farmers, herders and pastoralists, more than a third of them women. Plans include restoring over 59,000 hectares of degraded land, installing 190 solar energy kits for refrigeration and processing, and setting up 240 hydroponic forage units that will feed more than 25,000 livestock year-round. The project will also improve rural micro-enterprises' access to finance and promote climate-resilient value chains for opuntia, olive, rosemary, wool, alfa grass and peppermint. Emissions are expected to be reduced or sequestered by 540,355 tonnes of CO2 equivalent by the end of the project and by more than 1.8 million tonnes over its lifetime.

The GCF is providing a $43 million grant, and the Algerian government is co-financing $56.5 million, or 57 percent of the investment.

Mexico: paying for forest results

In Mexico, 11.8 million people depend on forests for their livelihoods, while converting forest into cattle pasture is one of the main drivers of deforestation. Through its National REDD+ Strategy, the country achieved 12,915,671 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emission reductions in 2018–2019. In recognition, the GCF approved an $85.3 million REDD+ results-based payment project. The money will help restore degraded pastures and promote more sustainable practices, including silvopastoral systems.

The project will set up 1,200 farmer field schools, support forest conservation across 205,000 hectares, finance 120 women-led initiatives and reach more than 33,000 people. An additional 262,801 tonnes of CO2-equivalent reductions are expected by 2032. It is the first project approved under the GCF's new results-based payments policy. For Mexico, it supports the goal of zero net deforestation by 2030.