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12 January 2019: The Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) and UNDP signed a project for which USD 25.3 million was approved by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) at its 23rd Board Meeting held in July last year.
The signing took place on Friday, 10 January 2020 at the GNHC, Thimphu.
The project ‘Supporting Climate Resilience and Transformational Changes in the Agriculture Sector in Bhutan’ will help Bhutan prepare and adapt to climate change and ensure it is heading towards low carbon and climate resilient developments.
The Chief of the Development Corporation Division of the GNHC, Wangchuk Namgay, said the project will help bridge the resource gap of the 12th Five Year Plan (FYP) and address climate change adaptation challenges facing the country, particularly in the agriculture sector, which is one of the priority sectors of the Royal Government of Bhutan.
The project will focus on enhancing climate resilience of the rural population by supporting climate-resilient irrigation, sustainable land management practices, stabilization of critical landslide prone areas and providing climate information to the farmers to help enable better planning of farming activities.
“With a long history of strong partnership with the GNHC, both at the policy and community levels, UNDP is pleased to support this project and concretely contribute to the Government’s top priority and Sustainable Development Goals,” UNDP Resident Representative Azusa Kubota said.
“2020 is a defining year for climate action. “With this project, there is a huge responsibility to shoulder in order to showcase Bhutan’s efforts in climate action and elevate the fruits of our efforts on a global level,” she added.
The GNHC and UNDP will provide strategic and oversight roles to the project while the Local Governments will implement the project with technical support from the National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology, Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests and Department of Roads of the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement.
