24 March 2015: The ninth meeting of the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) opened in Songdo, Republic of Korea, on 24 March. This meeting is the first since over US$10 billion was pledged to the Fund in late 2014, as part of the Fund’s Initial Resource Mobilization (IRM). The meeting will focus on the remaining elements needed to begin approving programme and project proposals no later than the Board’s 11th meeting.

During the meeting, which is taking place from 24-26 March 2015, the Board will: review the work plan for 2015 with a view to approving it; discuss legal and formal arrangements with accredited entities, including the respective roles of National Designated Authorities (NDAs) and intermediaries/implementing entities; consider accreditation proposals; discuss the gender policy and action plan; hear suggestions for mobilizing finance under the Private Sector Facility (PSF); and review a survey of the methods used by relevant institutions to determine risk appetite.

In addition, the meeting’s agenda includes discussion of the terms by which various aspects of the Fund will operate. These include the terms of reference for a pilot phase on “enhanced direct access,” the terms and conditions of the Fund’s instruments, and the terms of reference of the Technical Advisory Panel.

Board members will also discuss the Secretariat’s analysis of the expected role and impact of the Fund’s initial results areas. The initial results areas were decided at the fifth meeting of the Board and fall under either mitigation or adaptation. They are accompanied by a framework of indicators for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating outputs.

The Board is also expected to hear committee and panel reports, including on the activities of the Secretariat, the Accreditation Panel, and Co-Chairs Gabriel Quijandría (Peru) and Henrik Harboe (Norway) since their election at the eighth Board meeting in October 2014.

A number of preparatory and informal meetings took place on 23 March 2015, including those convened by the various committees and panels, as well as coordination meetings for the regional constituencies.

The GCF is a multilateral climate finance institution that aims to deploy resilient and clean solutions that will foster economic growth and employment globally. In 2010, the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the UNFCCC mandated the creation of the GCF to serve as an operating entity of the Convention’s financial mechanism. The Fund was then launched formally by COP 17 in 2011. The capitalization of the Fund was driven by the High-Level Pledging Conference in Berlin, Germany, on 20 November 2014 and COP 20, held in December 2014 in Lima, Peru.

The Board of the GCF serves as its governing and supervisory body, approving all the operational guidelines and policies, overseeing the distribution and use of funding, coordinating with other bodies under the Convention, and receiving and implementing guidance from the COP. Its 24-person membership is evenly divided among developing and developed countries; members from the developing world represent the UN regional groupings, small island developing States (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs). [IISD RS Coverage of Ninth GCF Board Meeting] [Provisional Agenda] [GCF Meeting Notification] [Co-Chairs’ Reflection Note]