The LDCF was established to support a work programme to assist Least Developed Country Parties (LDCs) carry out, inter alia, the preparation and implementation of national adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs). The COP, at its eleventh session, agreed on provisions to operationalize the LDCF to support the implementation of NAPAs.  The GEF, with the assistance of UNDP, UNEP, and the World Bank, has already supplied funds for preparing NAPAs. As of October 2008, 19 contributing participants (Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom) had pledged contributions to the LDCF of the equivalent of USD 172.8 million. As of October 2008. USD 9.4 million had been allocated to preparation of NAPAs and USD 77 million was committed to NAPA implementation projects.

The rationale for establishing the LDCF rests on the low capacity and high vulnerability of LDCs, which renders them in need of immediate and urgent support to start adapting to current and projected adverse effects of climate change. The projects are focused on short-term, urgent and priority needs; and projects are derived from the completed NAPAs. Twenty-four countries have have officially submitted their NAPA implementation projects to the GEF through the Project Identification Form for NAPA implementation under the LDCF and 19 projects have been approved in the following countries: Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Gambia, Haiti, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tuvalu and Zambia.

The document Accessing Resources Under the Least Developed Countries Fund provides a detailed step-by-step guide on accessing funding through the LDCF.

• Reduce climate change- induced risks and vulnerabilities from Glacial lake outbursts in the Punakha-Wangdue and Chamkhar Valleys (Bhutan)
• Freshwater conservation and water harvesting activities in the coastal areas to address salinity of Tanzania to adapt to climate change impacts (Tanzania)
• Adaptation of the agricultural sector to climate change in Niger (Implementing NAPA priority interventions to build resilience and adaptive capacity of the agriculture sector to climate change) (Niger)
• Climate Adaptation for Rural Livelihoods and Agriculture (CARLA) with AfDB (Malawai)

• GEF webpage on climate change
• GEF project database
• UNFCCC webpage on LDCF
• UNFCCC webpage on NAPAs
• UNDP database on LDCF projects