Green Climate Fund Approves $250 Mln for ADB’s ‘Glaciers to Farms’ Programme
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $250 mln for the Asian Development Bank’s «Glaciers to Farms» programme, aimed at strengthening water and agricultural systems in regions reliant on melting glaciers across Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Pakistan.
The GCF funds will complement $3.25 bn in ADB investments over the next decade. Projects will focus on irrigation, reservoirs, and watershed management to help farmers adapt to worsening droughts and floods.
Covering nine countries, including Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, the programme will operate in four glacier-fed basins — the Naryn, Panj, Kura, and Swat — benefiting around 13 mln people. It will also improve climate monitoring, disaster preparedness, and access to finance for rural communities, with special support for women-led agribusinesses.
ADB’s Yasmin Siddiqi said the initiative will move countries «beyond fragmented projects toward long-term resilience.» GCF’s Thomas Eriksson called it «a new benchmark for regional adaptation,» strengthening data, coordination, and financing for sustainable water and food systems.
Approved on October 29, the «Glaciers to Farms» initiative marks one of the largest regional climate adaptation programmes funded by the GCF.
Kursiv also reports that the latest Frontiers report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) highlights the growing threats linked to glacial melt, particularly for older populations and communities dependent on cryospheric regions.
