The Green Climate Fund has granted the so-called Central American Dry Corridor $ 174.3 million which will serve to increase the capacity to adapt to the effects of the climate crisis, an official source reported on Thursday.

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) said in a statement that the Green Climate Fund has approved the financing proposal for the Central American Dry Corridor Program presented by the financial institution.

The resources will benefit 2.4 million people through access to technical assistance and credit to implement climate crisis adaptation practices, said CABEI, with offices in Central America.

CABEI Executive Chairman Dante Mossi said the initiative was part of the $ 2,513 million Central America resilient reconstruction program approved by the regional bank in November 2020 in response to the effects of hurricanes Eta and Iota.

The objective of the Central American program “is to provide resources to the countries of the SICA (Central American Integration System) region to finance projects that face and prevent natural disasters to adapt to the effects of climate change and implement short-, medium-term and long-term measures, ”he explained.

The dry Central America Corridor, which encompasses the peaceful coasts of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, is one of the most vulnerable areas in the world to the climate crisis and has experienced episodes of drought in recent years intense and torrential rains caused by global warming.

Of the amount approved by the Green Fund, US $ 84.3 million is given to implement EcosystemAdaptation measures (EbA) and US $ 60 million are repayable resources channeled through financial institutions allied to CABEI, he added.

The remaining $ 30 million has been given for partial guarantees that support the loans, said CABEI, an institution that will channel $ 42.8 million through its allied financial institutions and $ 51.3 million in the form of loans. in-kind contributions from partner countries.

CABEI, founded in 1960, continues to “consolidate” itself as Central America’s leading financial institution in mobilizing Green Climate Fund resources, which help mitigate and adapt to climate change. To date, it has obtained the approval of US $ 526.5 million for the realization of 4 investment operations in the Central American region.

It was founded by El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Panama and the Dominican Republic were then joined as regional partners, while Belize is under the status of non-founding beneficiary country. The financial organization’s extra-regional partner countries are Argentina, Colombia, South Korea, Cuba, Spain, Mexico and Taiwan.