SEOUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2019) The UN Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $752,000 in funding for projects aimed at assisting North Korea in dealing with climate change, Korean media reported on Friday, adding that this is the first financing project by the fund for the country.
According to the Yonhap news agency, the fund will help Pyongyang improve its "readiness" to address climate issues if it complies with all environmental and social safeguards for the project.
The NK News website also reported that in January 2019, the North Korean Ministry of Land and Environment Protection was nominated as the fund's Nationally Designated Authority. Later in August, Pyongyang submitted a request on receiving financial support for developing training and capacity building exercises for the country's better engagement with the GCF.
The website cited the North Korean ministry as saying that the food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) would be responsible for the project's implementation and provide a "roadmap ... and education program for building capacity in response to climate change."
The project is considered to be of high importance for the country that is also a party to the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and to the landmark Paris Agreement on climate agreement signed in 2015.
The GCF was established in 2010 in accordance with the UN Framework Convention and aims at providing developing countries with money from industrialized nations to help them address climate issues or mitigate their consequences. The fund is headquartered in the South Korean city of Incheon.
