Goa to become first state to set up carbon & climate resilience fund

PANAJI: Goa has become the first state in the country to initiate the setting up of a low carbon and climate resilient green fund, with assistance from the World Bank, while Niti Aayog is helping the state complete the required procedures.
The fund, once set up, will be operated by a dedicated project management unit, and will help Goa to submit projects before different national and international agencies to access finance for carbon and climate-resilient investments. To begin with, Goa has proposed to set up a $5 million fund to carry out the necessary studies for the project.
Official sources said that already, two meetings have taken place with World Bank officials to finetune the project. A project report has already been submitted to Niti Aayog in this regard.
Without any liabilities to the state, the project will first involve carrying out a study by June 2024, which will assess Goa’s climate and development landscape, carry out a low carbon and climate resilient scenario analysis, and prepare a draft blueprint of a blended finance facility for the state.
“Goa already has an EV policy, a sustainable tourism policy, etc, but requires the financial mechanism to successfully implement them. A blended climate finance facility will enable the state to access finance for low-carbon and climate resilient investments, and to implement the policies. The project report prepared at present is for technical assistance through a World Bank-executed trust fund to help identify the potential blended finance mechanism suitable for Goa,” said an official.
Goa, through the project, hopes to leverage World Bank’s global experience and knowledge in innovative financing. “It will ensure that climate finance experts from various regions and domains are consulted, and the best practices and a feasible mechanism for operationalising the financing facility is systematically incorporated,” the official said.
The studies to be carried out will be baseline assessments (for Goa) of current climate risks and vulnerabilities, the state’s emissions profile and trends, its climate commitments, policies, and institutional framework.
Accordingly, a detailed scenario analysis across sectors will be developed with time frames, to identify ways to increase resilience, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to estimate related financing needs to mitigate climate risks.
“The blueprint, which is eventually created of a blended finance facility, will leverage various sources of finance to provide low-cost finance and to catalyse sustainable low-carbon and climate-resilient investments in the state, to be scaled up and institutionalised through regular schemes of the government,” the official said.
He said that in the long-term, the project will enable the Goa government to have a deeper understanding in the areas of low carbon resilient pathways, financial requirements, institutional framework, enhanced capacities for identification and accessing climate finance instruments for investments to support achievement of the state’s climate goals.
“It will also enable the state to access finance through the creation of a blended finance facility, which would leverage public, private, international, and domestic climate finance,” said the official.