UN Climate Fund Backs USD30M for Mandera Triangle Project

The Adaptation Fund has approved a USD30 million grant for a five-year regional climate resilience project spanning Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia, targeting pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities vulnerable to recurring droughts and floods in cross-border areas. Implemented by the UNDP, the initiative will directly benefit 500,000 people across Kenya’s Mandera County, Somalia’s Gedo Region, and Ethiopia’s Liben and Afder zones. An additional 1.2 million people are expected to benefit indirectly through improved early warning systems, enhanced cross-border mobility, and regional climate adaptation measures. The approval was granted during the Adaptation Fund Board’s 47th meeting in Bonn, Germany, as part of USD98.8 million in new climate adaptation financing approved for developing nations. Known as the Mandera Triangle project, the initiative focuses on building community and government capacity to anticipate and respond to climate-related shocks in a region where livelihoods depend heavily on pastoralism and livestock production. According to the UNDP, communities in these areas face severe climate pressures, with acute malnutrition reaching up to 35 percent during peak drought periods. The five-year program will strengthen community-based early warning systems, improve cross-border climate risk coordination, restore degraded rangelands, upgrade water systems, and expand income-generating opportunities for women and pastoralists. Implementation will involve regional and national institutions, including Ethiopia’s Ministry of Planning and Development, Kenya’s National Drought Management Authority, and Somalia’s Ministry of Finance through its National Climate Fund. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) will participate at the regional level alongside the UNDP. The announcement comes as global demand for climate adaptation funding surges. At the close of its 47th meeting, the Board reported that its active project pipeline has reached a record-breaking USD 2 billion. To meet mounting needs as global warming intensifies, the Board established a resource mobilization target of at least USD1.2 billion for 2026–2029. The Board also emphasized the urgency of transitioning the Fund to exclusively serve the Paris Agreement—a move set to be finalized at COP31—which will open access to dedicated financing through a five percent share of proceeds from carbon credits generated under Article 6.4. “The Adaptation Fund Board underscored the urgency of the Fund’s Transition to the Paris Agreement at COP31,” said Ali Daud Mohamed, chair of the Adaptation Fund Board. “Transitioning will allow us to enhance and diversify our resources, channeling them into support for vulnerable communities to protect lives, livelihoods, and food security.” Mikko Ollikainen, head of the Adaptation Fund, noted that the institution is developing a new medium-term strategy after nearly two decades of supporting climate-exposed communities. “Climate impacts are increasing, political priorities have shifted, and adaptation finance needs are growing much faster than the finance available,” Ollikainen said. Operating under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Adaptation Fund provides grants exclusively to developing nations, pioneering a direct-access model that enables accredited national institutions to manage adaptation projects locally. The Fund has mobilized more than USD2 billion to date, contributing to the global goal of tripling adaptation finance by 2035.