GCF approves Project Preparation Facility to develop CReW-DR
The project could impact over one million lives.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved a Project Preparation Facility (PPF) grant to support further development of the proposal, “Climate-resilient watersheds and communities through nature-based solutions and innovative financing in the Dominican Republic (CReW-DR).”
GCF, the world’s largest climate fund, mandated to support developing countries raise and realize their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) ambitions towards low-emissions and climate-resilient pathways, has provided The Nature Conservancy (TNC) with a PPF grant of $1.4 million. This grant provides resources to help drive the necessary analyses and develop the full funding proposal package, which will be submitted to GCF for approval in March 2027.
CReW-DR seeks to mobilize USD$90 million and will improve the lives of more than one million people by enhancing water security, reducing disaster risks and promoting climate-smart livelihoods. The project will deliver transformational outcomes for the Dominican Republic.
The full project, once approved, will implement a suite of nature-based solutions to restore, protect and sustainably manage key ecosystems. It will utilize both grants and blended finance to promote enabling policy and financial environments.
CReW-DR will increase access to financing for producers, cooperatives, agribusinesses and agricultural micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through a blended-finance model that uses private funds to support climate-resilient, high-impact investment projects. Eligible projects include agricultural modernization, resilient infrastructure, clean technologies, value chain development and market certification, all areas with strong potential to improve productivity, strengthen resilience and deliver long-term returns.
"Receiving support from the Green Climate Fund, the world's largest climate fund, affirms the ambition and technical rigor of what we're building with our partners,” explains Clare Shakya, TNC’s global managing director of climate. “We're proud to show, alongside the Government of the Dominican Republic and local institutions, that restored nature isn't an alternative to climate infrastructure; it is the infrastructure that water security, disaster resilience and lasting livelihoods are built on."
This is the Dominican Republic’s first national GCF project, aimed at strengthening climate resilience in the Yaque del Norte region and the coastal municipality of Miches. In alignment with the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 2.0 & NDC 3.0) and National Adaptation Plan 2015-2030, the project will contribute to adaptation targets in water, ecosystems, agriculture and climate governance.
TNC has been working with the National Designated Authority (NDA) of the Dominican Republic, to the GCF, which is Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and its national focal point, the Deputy Ministry of Climate Change and Sustainability.
“This approval represents a strategic step in the Dominican Republic’s efforts to build climate resilience from the ground up,” states Honorable Paíno Henríquez, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. “Through the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Dominican State is advancing an ambitious agenda to strengthen water security, reduce climate-related disaster risks, restore and sustainably manage critical ecosystems, and create new opportunities for resilient livelihoods in vulnerable territories such as the Yaque del Norte watershed and the coastal municipality of Miches. CReW-DR reflects our commitment to move from planning to implementation, combining nature-based solutions, sound climate governance and innovative financing mechanisms to protect our communities, our productive sectors and our natural capital,” Minister Henriquez explains.
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more resilient. The Nature Conservancy is working to make a lasting difference around the world in 83 countries and territories (39 by direct conservation impact and 44 through partners) through a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. For more news, visit our newsroom or follow The Nature Conservancy on LinkedIn.