A meeting on climate finance, entitled "Climate finance, an opportunity for the private sector in Tunisia", was organized by the association of Tunisians from the grandes écoles - ATUGE - Club Ecologie, in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Affairs and Environment and OSS, as part of the READINESS project - Tunisia by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and support for the establishment of the Designated National Authority".
Taking into account the major role of the private sector in the country's development, and their potential to invest in projects that are resilient to climate change, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has dedicated a specific line of credit to it. As a result, the private sector is called upon to invest in the fight against climate change in terms of mitigating greenhouse gases and reducing the vulnerability of populations and ecosystems.
The objective of this ATUGE meeting, dedicated to the private sector, is to inform on the issue of climate change in the context of Tunisia: Green Climate Fund (GCF) funding opportunities, eligibility criteria (sectors, etc.), funding application procedures, role of the Designated National Authority (DNA), submission mechanism to the GCF.
Among the experts who participated in the panel discussion on climate finance are: Dr Chokri MEZGHANI, Director at the Ministry of Local Affairs and Environment and Focal Point of the Green Climate Fund (FVC); Dr Raoudha GAFREJ, expert in water resources and climate change adaptation and member of the Board of Directors of ATUGE; Mr Mourad BRIKI, environmental expert and Coordinator of the Observatory Function at OSS; Mrs Sana JOUINI, expert consultant on climate change in the private sector and Mrs Asma ZAOUALI, Strategy Manager of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC). The discussions were moderated by Ms Amel JRAD, Policy Officer at the Ministry of Local Affairs and Environment and member of the Board of Directors of ATUGE.
On this occasion, Mr Mourad Briki explained the role of OSS in facilitating access to climate finance. He reminded the audience, made up of about 80 participants, that OSS, as an entity accredited to the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund, provides its members and partners with technical and institutional support to develop project requests to address the impacts of climate change and contribute to countries' adaptation and mitigation efforts. He recalled that OSS had been accredited as an implementing entity by the Adaptation Fund in 2013 - with re-accreditation in January 2019 for 5 years - and by the Green Climate Fund - GCF in October 2017.