MINSK, 27 September (BelTA) – Belarus has plans to attract money from international funds for its environmental projects, Belarusian First Deputy Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Minister Iya Malkina said during an online conference hosted by the BelTA website on 27 September.
The work will be done in the context of Belarus' accession to the Paris Agreement. “Belarus was one of the first countries to sign the document. We hope that we will not only use the existing financial mechanisms, but also participate in their development,” Iya Malkina noted.
She said she was not talking about any specific financial tools granted free of charge. “A financial instrument should be divided into several components. One of them is the possibility to use additional funds to finance climate events as part of grants. Co-financing is also possible. In this case, the grants are earmarked for institutional transformations, and it is necessary to ask credit financial institutions to help pay for the practical implementation of the solutions,” Iya Malkina pointed out.
The Belarusian Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry is looking for potential donors. “Our cooperation with the UN Green Climate Foundation is in its early stages. We are also developing ties with the World Bank that will assist us in the search for financial resources. We have been working in this direction with the United Nations Development Program. We hope to achieve a high level of cooperation,” Iya Malkina said.
Those who decide whether to allocate money or not, first of all, consider the area in which this money will be used. “I think that agriculture is a very promising area in Belarus. It would be great to establish a project to finance new biogas plants. The construction of livestock breeding facilities can also be partially financed by the World Bank. We are devising strategic plans to honor the commitments that we will assume,” Iya Malkina noted.
