At a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Communal Climate Action Fund held in Tunis recently, representatives of the Tunisian government announced their decision to create a specific fund dedicated to mobilizing and channelling climate finance towards local communities to undertake adaptation and mitigation actions within the communities of this North African country. Once operational, the fund represents the first instrument dedicated to financing locally designed climate change projects, prioritizing the communities' needs.

The Tunisian government is committed to reducing CO2 emissions and increasing investment in climate change adaptation as part of a dual approach to address growing water scarcity in many parts of the country, as well as rising temperatures and rainfall volatility. The new facility will initially provide a framework for the disbursement of LoCAL grants, the planning and design phase of which has been completed and will be launched later this year with technical support from the United Nations Capital Development Fund.

"This action will promote adaptation to climate change at the local level, using existing budgetary systems to invest in locally identified actions," said Environment Minister Leila Chikhaoui Mahdaoui, who opened the Committee in the capital Tunis on the 29 January.

"As we launch this process today...it is important that we are all on board and that everyone participates in the fight against climate change and works jointly for the improvement of one's environment."

Tunisia is a middle-income country that has recently released its economic projections, in which it mentions the challenges its facing, which include the devastating effects of a four-year drought that has driven up water prices and threatens food security. A former granary of the Roman Empire, Tunisian farmers today are facing significant constraints, involving recurrent droughts, and declining water reserves. An ancient agricultural model giving priority to water-intensive export crops led farmers to turn away from traditional crops in the 1970s, leaving the country vulnerable to cereal imports.

The first funding instalment, to be mobilized by the Communal Climate Action Fund (CCAF), has been granted by the European Union, totalling US $7.65 million, equivalent to around 7.12 million euros, to be allocated over four budget cycles.

"The European Union is proud to support this engagement," said Marina Marchetti, Head of the Social Inclusion and Sustainable Development Section at the European Union Delegation in Tunisia,

adding "this is a crucial programme for collective action on climate change, which is one of the most pressing issues of our time."

Initially, six communes - both urban and rural in coastal and interior regions - will receive funding for locally identified climate actions as part of a pilot phase, covering: Beni Khedache, Bizerte, Douz, Nabeul, Sfax and Tabarka. Activities are expected to be launched in nine other communes before the end of 2025.

“The Ministry of the Interior is deeply convinced of the crucial role of local collectivities as key and leading actors in the fight against climate change. Our Ministry is strongly committed to guiding and supporting the six communes, who will be a source of apprenticeship, experiment, and inspiration for other communes in climate action"

said Samira Abidi of the Ministry of the Interior, Director General of Regulations, Cleanliness and Environmental Protection.

LoCAL in Tunisia is to be implemented jointly by the Ministry of the Economy and Planning, the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of the Interior, with technical assistance from the UNCDF.

Addressing an eager audience of officials from the three implementing ministries, Ronan Pecheur, UNCDF programme specialist overseeing LoCAL's deployment in Tunisia, explained how the performance-based approach to grant allocations is designed to encourage investment in good practice and create virtuous learning.

Whereas local authorities are assessed on how the grants are used, it is the communities that decide what form the investments will take, drawing on their lived experience dealing with the impacts of climate change to determine the investments that best meet their needs.

“Most importantly, the community decides,” said Mr Pecheur, "Climate change is a global challenge, but its impacts are felt more keenly at the local level."

With LoCAL Tunisia steering committee, all the parameters of the mechanism were adopted, including the composition of the governance bodies, the opening of the “Fund for the climate actions for municipalities” in Tunisia, the selection of the first six pilot communes and the calculation of grant amounts. The next important step is the official signing of the memorandum of understanding and the payment of the grants, scheduled for the end of the first quarter of 2024.

Find out more about LoCAL here

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