The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board approved USD 1.01 billion in climate finance for 16 projects that seek to promote low-emission, climate-resilient development. This brings the value of the GCF’s total portfolio to USD 7.2 billion.
The GCF Board approved the following projects and programmes:
- USD 23.1 million for Improving Adaptive Capacity and Risk Management of Rural Communities in Mongolia, with the UN Development Programme (UNDP);
- USD 82 million for Argentina’s REDD+ Results-based Payments for Results Period 2014-2016, with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO);
- USD 99.5 million for Planting Climate Resilience in Rural Communities of Northeast Brazil, with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD);
- USD 54.2 million for Costa Rica’s REDD+ Results-based Payments for 2014 and 2015, with UNDP;
- USD 29.8 million for RELIVE – REsilient LIVElihoods of Vulnerable Smallholder Farmers in the Mayan Landscapes and the Dry Corridor of Guatemala, with FAO;
- USD 64.1 million for Bio-CLIMA: Integrated Climate Action to Reduce Deforestation and Strengthen Resilience in BOSAWÁS and Rio San Juan Biospheres in Nicaragua, with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI);
- USD 47.4 million for Enhancing Climate Information and Knowledge Services for Resilience in the Cook Islands, Niue, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu, with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP);
- USD 30 million for Participation in Energy Access Relief Facility in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Acumen;
- USD 100 million for Green Climate Financing Facility for Local Financial Institutions in Latin America, with the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF);
- USD 256.5 million for Promoting Private Sector Investment through Large-scale Adoption of Energy Saving Technologies and Equipment for Textile and Readymade Garment Sectors of Bangladesh, with Infrastructure Development Company Limited;
- USD 18.5 million for Technical Assistance Facility for the Global Subnational Climate Fund, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN);
- USD 150 million for the Global Subnational Climate Fund (SnCF Global) – Equity, with Pegasus Capital Advisors; and
- USD 26.7 million for Mongolian Green Finance Corporation, with XacBank.
The GCF Board also approved three projects under the Simplified Approval Process:
- USD 9.9 million for Climate Proofing Food Production Investments in Imbo and Moso Basins in Burundi, with IFAD;
- USD 10 million for Enhancing Climate Information Systems for Resilient Development in Liberia, with the African Development Bank (AfDB); and
- USD 9.9 million for Gums for Adaptation and Mitigation in Sudan: Enhancing Adaptive Capacity of Local Communities and Restoring Carbon Sink Potential of the Gum Arabic Belt, Expanding Africa’s Great Green Wall, with FAO.
GCF Board Co-Chair Nauman Bashir Bhatti (Pakistan) said the one billion dollars of climate finance will provide “much needed support” for developing countries as the world responds to the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic at the same time.
The Board also adopted the Updated Strategic Plan for the Green Climate Fund 2020-2023, to help channel enhanced climate flows to developing countries during the Fund’s first replenishment period.
The 27th meeting of the GCF Board convened virtually from 9-13 November 2020. [GCF Press Release on GCF Board Meeting Outcomes] [GCF Press Release on Opening of Meeting]