Background
At COP 16, Parties, in  decision 1/CP.16 established a Green Climate Fund
(GCF) as an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism of the Convention under Article 11. The GCF
will support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing country Parties. The
Fund is governed by the GCF Board.
The assets of the GCF will be administered by a trustee only for the purpose of, and in accordance
with, the relevant decisions of the GCF Board. The World Bank was invited by the COP to serve as the
interim trustee of the GCF, subject to a review three years after operationalization of the Fund. The
COP also decided that the GCF was to be designed by the Transitional Committee
(TC). At COP 17 held in Durban, the COP adopted decision 3/CP.17,
in which Parties welcomed the report of the TC ( FCCC/CP/2011/6 and
Add.1) and approved the Governing Instrument for the GCF. Parties, at COP 18, endorsed the consensus decision of
the GCF Board to select Songdo, Incheon, Republic of Korea as the host of the GCF. At COP 19, Parties
welcomed the establishment of the independent GCF secretariat and the selection of the Executive
Director of the GCF by the GCF Board. Furthermore, Parties provided initial guidance to the GCF.
Update
At COP 21, the COP adopted a number of decisions with relevance for the GCF.
Guidance provided in decision 1/CP.21, Adoption of the Paris Agreement
The COP decided that the GCF and the GEF, the entities entrusted with the operation of the Financial
Mechanism of the Convention, as well as the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate
Change Fund, administered by the GEF, shall serve the Agreement. The COP also decided that the
guidance to the entities entrusted with the operations of the Financial Mechanism of the Convention
in relevant decisions of the COP, including those agreed before adoption of the Agreement, shall
apply mutatis mutandis.
Article 9 of the Agreement also states that the institutions serving this Agreement, including the
operating entities of the Financial Mechanism of the Convention, shall aim to ensure efficient access
to financial resources through simplified approval procedures and enhanced readiness support for
developing country Parties, in particular for the least developed countries and small island
developing States, in the context of their national climate strategies and plans.
Decision 1/CP.21 also includes guidance on provision of support for the preparation and communication
of the intended nationally determined contributions of Parties that may need such support, support
for the least developed countries and other developing country Parties for the formulation of
national adaptation plans, coordination and delivery of resources to support country-driven
strategies through simplified and efficient application and approval procedures, and through
continued readiness support to developing country Parties, and participation of the operating
entities of the Financial Mechanism of the Convention in technical expert meetings (on mitigation).
The COP further recognized the importance of adequate and predictable financial resources, including
for result-based payments, as appropriate, for the implementation of policy approaches and positive
incentives for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and the role of
conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks; as well as
alternative policy approaches, such as joint mitigation and adaptation approaches for the integral
and sustainable management of forests; while reaffirming the importance of non-carbon benefits
associated with such approaches; encouraging the coordination of support from, inter alia, public and
private, bilateral and multilateral sources, such as the Green Climate Fund, and alternative sources
in accordance with relevant decisions by the Conference of the Parties.
Guidance provided in decision 7/CP.21, Report of the Green Climate Fund to the Conference of the Parties and
guidance to the Green Climate Fund
The COP requested the Board of the GCF to agree on the arrangements for the first formal
replenishment process of the GCF as soon as feasible. The Board was also requested to ensure that the
revised funding proposal template and concept note template are designed to facilitate the
application process, and to adopt a simplified process for approval of proposals for certain
activities, in particular for small-scale activities, as soon as possible in 2016, to reduce
complexities and costs involved in project proposal development.
The COP urged the Board to streamline the accreditation modalities and to seek a balance of diversity
in accredited entities. Additionally, the COP requested the Board to prioritize the development of
its initial risk management framework and to enhance transparency and stakeholder engagement.
The COP also urged the Board to operationalize the Independent Evaluation Unit, Independent Redress
Mechanism and Independent Integrity Unit as a matter of urgency and to make public the procedures
Parties and affected individuals should follow when seeking redress until the Independent Redress
Mechanism is operationalized.
Furthermore, the COP invited the Board to take into account in its programmatic priorities the Cancun
Adaptation Framework, in particular the principles referred to in paragraph 12 and the activities
referred to in paragraph 14 of decision 1/CP.16. The COP also invited the Board, in line with
paragraph 38 of the governing instrument of the GCF, to consider ways to provide support, pursuant to
the modalities of the GCF, for facilitating access to environmentally sound technologies in
developing countries, and for undertaking collaborative research and development for enabling
developing countries to enhance their mitigation and adaptation action. The COP urged the Board to
operationalize results-based payments for activities referred to in decision 1/CP.16, paragraph 70,
consistent with decision 9/CP.19, and in accordance with GCF Board decision B.08/08. The Board was
also requested to consider the mobilization of private sector finance to progress the Fund’s
forestry-related result areas. The COP requested the Board to take into account decision 16/CP.21, in
particular paragraph 6, referring to support for alternative policy approaches, such as joint
mitigation and adaptation approaches for the integral and sustainable management of forests as
appropriate in its funding decisions.
The COP also encouraged the Board to improve complementarity and coherence with other institutions,
per paragraphs 33 and 34 of the governing instrument, including by engaging with relevant bodies of
the Convention, including the Standing Committee on Finance.
Finally, the COP urged the Board to develop appropriate mechanisms to support the fund through
appropriate expert and technical advice, including from thematic bodies, as appropriate.
Additional guidance to the GCF was provided in the following COP decisions:
Decision
4/CP.21, National Adaptation Plans;
Decision
8/CP.21, Report of the Global Environment Facility to the Conference of the Parties and
additional guidance to the Global Environment Facility;
Decision
13/CP.21, Linkages between the Technology Mechanism and the Financial Mechanism of the
Convention;
Decision
14/CP.21, Capacity-building under the Convention;
Decision
15/CP.21, Terms of reference for the intermediate review of the Doha work programme on Article 6
of the Convention;
Decision
16/CP.21, Alternative policy approaches, such as joint mitigation and adaptation approaches for
the integral and sustainable management of forests;
Decision
19/CP.21, Extension of the mandate of the Least Developed Countries Expert Group.
Arrangements between the Conference of the Parties and the Green Climate Fund
At COP 18 held in Doha, Parties recognized that the provisions contained in Article 11, paragraph 3,
and decision 3/CP.17 and the governing instrument of the GCF contained in the annex to 3/CP.17 form the basis for
the arrangements between the COP and the GCF. The COP requested the Standing
Committee on Finance and the GCF Board to develop arrangements between the COP and the GCF for
agreement by the Board and subsequent agreement by COP 19.
At COP 19, Parties agreed to the arrangements between
the COP and the GCF to ensure that the GCF is accountable to and functions under the guidance of
the COP to support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing country Parties
using thematic funding windows, which were approved by the GCF Board at its fifth meeting.
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