Nabard is now accredited by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as an implementing entity for undertaking climate change related projects in India. GCF was set up under the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010 to help developing countries finance clean energy, other mitigation efforts and adaptation to climate change. The government announced this in the Lok Sabha. Nabard is the only such entity in the country at present for undertaking climate change projects. The fund assistance will be in the form of concessional loan, grant and through other modalities, instrument or facilities as may be approved by the GCF board. Nabard is proposing a project that envisages to lower ground water table (where there has been water logging on account of excess canal irrigation) and mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide from atmosphere and improve secondary salinisation of soils, thereby improving productivity of lands. The project plans to cover an area of 30,000 hectare under the agro-forestry plantation of fast growing canal eucalyptus species.
