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The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $250 million for a new climate adaptation initiative aimed at strengthening water and agricultural systems across glacier-dependent regions in Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Pakistan.
Led by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the flagship “Glaciers to Farms” program will focus on protecting communities that rely heavily on melting glaciers and snow-fed rivers for agriculture, drinking water, and electricity. The program includes nine ADB developing member countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
According to ADB, the initiative will target four major glacier-fed river basins: the Naryn and Pyanj in Central Asia, the Kura in the South Caucasus, and the Swat in Pakistan. Together, these basins span around 27 million hectares. The GCF’s concessional funding was approved during its 43rd board meeting held on October 29.
The project is expected to directly benefit nearly 13 million people, including farmers and vulnerable groups in remote mountain areas. It will also fund detailed assessments of climate and glaciers to inform national development policies and future investments.
The program aims to build early warning and monitoring systems to manage natural disasters such as glacial lake outburst floods and long droughts. Accelerated glacial melting, ADB warned, is threatening ecosystem stability and livelihoods in regions where one in four jobs is linked to agriculture.
Over the next decade, GCF’s funding, mostly provided as grants, will be complemented by $3.25 billion in ADB investments. This joint funding will support country-led projects focused on efficient irrigation, water storage, and watershed management to maintain agricultural productivity despite worsening climate impacts.
“Rapid glacial retreat is one of the most complex development challenges faced by our region,” said Yasmin Siddiqi, ADB’s Director for Agriculture, Food, Nature, and Rural Development. “With catalytic support from GCF, ‘Glaciers to Farms’ will shift the region from fragmented initiatives to long-term, science-based resilience that safeguards communities now and in the future.”
Thomas Eriksson, GCF Director for Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East, added that the program represents “the kind of large-scale, innovative collaboration needed to strengthen adaptation planning and cooperation across glacier-fed water systems.”
He said the initiative sets a “transformative benchmark” by improving data sharing, coordination, and financial readiness for sustainable resilience in the region’s water and food systems.
