IKI project PACO starts in Benin and Congo

The first two country packages in the IKI project “Implementation of regional and national adaptation priorities in Central and Western Africa (PACO)” have started, with kick-off workshops being held in Cotonou (Benin) and Brazzaville (Congo).

Funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI), this regionally focused project improves capacities to adapt to climate change in Benin, Congo and two other countries in Western Africa. This it does with capacity building in government institutions, civil society, communities, and in small and mid-sized enterprises: small-scale projects that are aligned with their specific adaptation requirements are being implemented in all four countries.

PACO will also be working with the regional climate commission in the Sahel region and Congo Basin, aiming to strengthen their organisational and institutional competencies. Good examples of effective strategies can be adopted by national actors, and disseminated by means of national and international funding. The aim is to have regional commissions implement best practice and field-tested approaches in other member countries, thus promoting South-South dialogue and mutual learning.

With the IKI, German international development work returns to the Congo

Prior to the kick-off workshop in the Congo, a grand opening ceremony was held for the PACO project office in Brazzaville, with Congolese Minister for the Environment Arlette Soudan-Nonault and German Ambassador Dr Wolfgang Klapper in attendance. In her keynote, Soudan-Nonault welcomed the new start for their partnership with Germany. Noting the excellent relationship the countries enjoyed, she also expressed the hope that the office opening would prove to be the start of a deeper and ever-expanding engagement by their German partners.

During the workshop, the Minister highlighted the significance of the Congo Basin as a carbon sink, while simultaneously underlining the importance of the tropical forests for ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change, whose impacts were being increasingly felt in this region.