By STANSLOUS NGOSA –

ZAMBIA is ready to host this year’s Green Climate Fund (GCF) board meeting in Livingstone.
The meeting slated for December is in a quest to increase chances for Zambia to benefit from the GCF.
Interim Climate Change Secretariat national coordinator David Kaluba said hosting the high level meeting would realise benefits for the country, including enhancing climate change projects and promoting tourism.
Mr Kaluba said this in Chisamba yesterday during an update on the status of the GCF, at the on-going first workshop to prepare for the Conference of Parties (COP 21) to be held in Paris, France, from November 30 to December 11 this year.
The GCF is an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention and is accountable to and functions under the guidance of the COP.
It is governed by a Board comprising 24 members with equal numbers from developed and developing countries and is intended to be the main fund for global climate change finance in the context of mobilising US$100billion by 2020.
The headquarters is in Songdo (Incheon), South Korea.
The GCF was established by the COP at its 16th session, designed throughout 2011 by a Transitional Committee and launched at COP 17 through decision 3/CP.17, including the governing instrument for the GCF .
The World Bank serves as the interim trustee, meaning that it is tasked with administering any money currently raised.
Mr Kaluba, who is a Board Member of the GCF, said other benefits of hosting the meeting included bringing the fund closer to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
“Hosting the meeting in Zambia would give us an opportunity to express the need to have additional funding for other projects that help with load shedding and renewable energies,” Mr Kaluba said.
The meeting would enable Board members to see some of the community projects to be implemented that aimed at mitigating and adapting to climate change.
Mr Kaluba said the opportunity could also see Zambia’s projects being the ones to be approved and funded.