Green Climate Fund Approves $1 Billion For Climate Action In Developing Countries
The Green Climate Fund on Sunday approved more than $1 billion in new projects and programs aimed at supporting climate action across developing nations while at the same time launching the Fund’s first replenishment.
Launched in 2010 by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) was created in an effort to support the efforts of developing nations as they respond to climate change. The 21st meeting of the GCF Board ended on Sunday in Bahrain, where they announced the new funding and replenishment.
In total, 19 new projects have been awarded $1.04 billion by the GCF and, including co-financing, the projects are expected to see investment worth $4.2 billion worth of climate financing for low-emission, climate-resilient development. The new projects bring the Fund’s total portfolio of projects up to 93, worth over $4.6 billion in GCF resources.
“The B.21 Board meeting exceeded expectations with more than a billion dollars of important projects approved, and the launch of the GCF replenishment process,” explained Co-Chair Lennart Båge. “Climate finance and climate project formulation are the two greatest bottlenecks to climate action in the developing countries,” added Co-Chair Paul Oquist. “GCF has a critical role to play in both.”
At the close of the four-day meeting the Fund’s Board also decided to launch the process for the GCF’s first replenishment.
“With a rapidly growing portfolio, accelerating implementation on the ground, and a pipeline of $17 billion showing huge demand, GCF is now entering its first replenishment ready to step up its support of developing countries’ climate action,” said Javier Manzanares, Executive Director ad interim.
Given the scale of the task the GCF has set itself, I reached out to ask what this first replenishment really involves.
“GCF’s role is to channel climate finance to developing countries for clean energy and adaptation projects, and to catalyze further climate finance from public and private sources,” said a GCF spokesperson. “The launch of the replenishment is the start of a process of inviting potential contributors to make pledges to the Fund. It will be a process that will include reviews of GCF’s performance to date, and the development of a programming document for the forthcoming period. There will be a series of organizational and consultation meetings, overseen by a global facilitator (still to be appointed), with a final pledging conference at the end of the process. The timing of the process is still to be confirmed, but it will start now, and the Board aim to conclude it by October 2019.”
As part of its four day meeting, the Green Climate Fund also approved applications for 16 new Accredited Entities — partner organizations that implement GCF projects — bring the Fund’s total up to 75.
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