Vienna, 5 June 2024 – UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller welcomed Mikko Ollikainen, Head of the Adaptation Fund (AF), at UNIDO Headquarters for a high-level meeting aimed at building up the partnership between the two organizations. The visit and subsequent agreements reached mark a significant step in enhancing collaborative efforts on climate adaptation and resilience.

During the meeting, UNIDO and the Fund discussed their collaboration under the Adaptation Small and Medium Enterprises Innovation Facility (ASIF), a $10 million initiative to enhance community resilience by integrating innovative climate adaptation technologies. The meeting also included the signing of two Project Formulation Grant (PFG) agreements to support climate adaptation initiatives in Kenya and Uganda, as well as in Malaysia and the Philippines.

Director General Müller noted that since UNIDO's accreditation by the AF, the Organization has focused on devising proposals to support developing countries in combating the intensifying impacts of climate change with innovative adaptation solutions. Müller stressed: “At UNIDO we highly value our growing partnership with the Adaptation Fund. It is a critical cooperation and together we will make concrete contributions to tackling climate change while ensuring the economic and social well-being of the most vulnerable populations around the world.”

Adaptation Fund’s Mikko Ollikainen: “We are committed to supporting the most vulnerable through country-driven and locally led action. The Adaptation Fund already funds projects improving access to clean water, food security, early warning systems for reducing climate risks, and building resilient livelihoods. With UNIDO as an Implementing Entity, we are eager to support developing countries in strengthening industrial resilience through adaptation actions for local entrepreneurs and micro, small, and medium enterprises.”

This partnership aligns UNIDO's mission to foster sustainable economic and industrial development with the Fund's mandate to finance climate adaptation in developing countries. UNIDO-AF projects span various sectors, including improving food security through South-South Cooperation in Malaysia and the Philippines, and harnessing the water-energy-food nexus in Tawi-Tawi.
 

For more information, please contact:

UNIDO: Division of Global Partnerships and External Relations, gef@unido.org

AF Media Contact: Matthew Pueschel, mpueschel@adaptation-fund.org