CSOs that gathered during a workshop in Accra, Ghana in September rejected the World Bank’s proposed funding mechanism and condemned its attempt to control the global financing policy on climate through its Climate Investment Fund (CIF).

Although recognizing that adaptation should move to the top of the policy agenda if it is to make a difference, CSOs said that what WB is proposing are market-driven solutions which will not solve the problem.

The CIF is a multi-donor funding mechanism, which will supposedly help developing nations invest in clean technologies and build up their defences against climate change. The CIF was unveiled July this year, with ten developed countries pledging a total of USD 6.1 billion to the fund.

According to northern and southern CSOs who attended the workshop, the CIF has turned conditionality upside down, with certain macroeconomic conditions attached. Rosario Bella Guzman of IBON, expressed fear that the CIF will be used to pressure developing countries regarding carbon emissions and carbon trading.

Other contentious issues arise from the CIF such as its unclear relation to the sunset clause post-2012 which states that adaptation projects close down after 2012 when in fact, the CIF opens a window of possibility of ignoring the clause as new money pours in. Gender sensitivity and people’s issues are also not integrated into the framework of WB.

In a nutshell, the CSOs believe the CIF is just a debt trap and undermines the UNFCCC which is supposedly more democratic.

This month, India openly rejected the CIF in an effort to harden its stance - together with China and the G77- for developed nations to directly transfer funds to affected and poor countries. These countries are also calling for a different adaptation fund but under the UNFCCC.

The climate change funding workshop was organized by IBON Foundation and AidWatch during the CSO Parallel Forum on Aid Effectiveness. Both organizations are involved in the Movement for a People’s Protocol on Climate Change.