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31.03.2015

GCF Board Accredits Seven Entities, Adopts Investment Framework

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At its ninth meeting, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board took a number of necessary steps toward its goal of approving funding for the first projects and programmes in October 2015. It agreed to accredit seven organizations, opening the door for them to begin developing and submitting project and programme proposals. In addition, it agreed on an initial investment framework, which will guide entities in the development of their proposals and create a transparent process for evaluating them.

The meeting was the first chaired by Gabriel Quijandría (Peru) and Henrik Harboe (Norway) since their election at the eighth GCF Board meeting (GCFB 8). The Co-Chairs focused the organization of work on the needed decisions to begin approving projects and programmes. In the initial investment framework, the Board decided to pilot the use of a minimum benchmark and three-point assessment scale, while also taking into account the special circumstances of countries particularly vulnerable to climate change, such as the least developed countries (LDCs), small island developing States (SIDS) and African States.

The Board also held extensive discussions on and agreed to: an ethics and conflicts of interest policy for Board members; legal and formal arrangements with accredited entities; terms of reference (TOR) of the Independent Technical Advisory Panel (ITAP), which will assess medium- and large-scale project and programme proposals before they are submitted to the Board to review; and the financial terms and conditions of the Fund's instruments.

In addition, the GCF will be the first institution of its kind to have a gender policy and action plan in place before it begins disbursing funds, as the Board came to an agreement on an interim policy, which will be reviewed at GCFB 12.

Among its other decisions, the Board: asked the Secretariat to give periodic updates on readiness funding disbursement; requested the establishment of an ad hoc Appointment Committee; and agreed to develop an investment strategy using a bottom-up approach, that is, through analyzing the portfolio that emerges from submitted proposals.

Foreseeing that constituencies may be delayed in electing new Board members, the Board decided that members whose terms are ending 23 August 2015 will retain their seat until their successors are selected (but not beyond 31 December 2015), to avoid potentially lacking quorum at GCFB 11 in late October. The Board also held an in-depth discussion on a pilot programme for enhanced direct access (EDA), but did not take a decision due to time constraints.

The first seven entities accredited by the Fund are: the Centre de suivi écologique (CSE); Fondo de Promoción de las Áreas Naturales Protegidas del Péru (PROFONANPE); the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP); Acumen Fund, Inc.; the Asian Development Bank (ADB); the KfW Development Bank; and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

The meeting was held from 24-26 March 2015 at the GCF's headquarters in Songdo, Republic of Korea. The Board agreed that GCFB 10 will also be held in Songdo, from 6-9 July 2015.

 

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