Board decisions

The Board:

Requests the Secretariat to present to the seventh Board meeting a proposal, with draft terms of reference, to establish a Board committee to assist the Board in the appointments, performance reviews, salary decisions and accountability of the Head of the Independent Evaluation Unit, the Head of the Independent Integrity Unit and the Head of the Independent Redress Mechanism Unit as well as the Executive Director.

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.06/06 Terms of Reference of the Independent Evaluation Unit, the Independent Integrity Unit, and the Independent Redress Mechanism:

1. Adopts the terms of reference of the Independent Evaluation Unit, as set out in Annex III to this document;
2. Adopts the terms of reference of the Independent Integrity Unit, as set out in Annex IV to this document;
3. Adopts the terms of reference of the Independent Redress Mechanism, as set out in Annex V to this document.

The Board, having considered document GCF/B.06/07 Country Ownership:

Requests Board members/alternate members Mr. Dipak Dasgupta, Mr. Omar El-Arini,  Mr. Anton Hilber and Mr. Alexander Severens to continue undertaking their deliberations on country ownership and to report back to the Board at its seventh meeting with a proposal for decision.

The Board, having considered document GCF/B.06/14 Detailed Programme of Work on Readiness and Preparatory Support:

1. Takes note of the priority activities for readiness and preparatory support:
   1. Establishment of national designated authorities or focal points;
   2. Strategic frameworks, including the preparation of country programmes;
   3. Selection of intermediaries or implementing entities;
   4. Initial pipelines of programme and project proposals;
2. Requests the Secretariat to elaborate a revised detailed programme of work, for consideration by the Board at its seventh meeting, that includes the following:
   1. Readiness activities to be undertaken in countries based on requests for support resulting from a consultation with countries and stakeholders;
   2. A delivery plan for the implementation of these readiness activities. The delivery plan will be developed in consultation with countries and existing initiatives. It will include a timeline and modalities for implementation;
   3. Options for entering into partnerships with existing initiatives, including of sub-national, national, regional and international actors, in order to implement the readiness activities supported by the Fund;
3. Decides from the resources available or to be made available in the Green Climate Fund Trust Fund, the allocation of funds in the amount of US$ 1 million to the Secretariat for the preparation of a detailed programme of work and authorizes the Interim Trustee to commit and transfer such funds from the Green Climate Fund Trust Fund to the Secretariat, subject to the availability of resources in the Green Climate Fund Trust Fund;
4. Requests the Secretariat to seek transparency, complementarity,  and coherence amongst existing initiatives, and to establish and maintain an information-sharing platform and dialogue and facilitate South-South exchanges;
5. Requests the Secretariat to review the modalities for the delivery of readiness support once the Fund’s accreditation and allocation policies are approved, with a view of ensuring consistency with the other established operational modalities of the Fund, for consideration by the Board;
6. Requests the Executive Director to report to the Board twice a year on:
   1. Activities undertaken, including joint activities with existing initiatives;
   2. The progress of committing and disbursing available funds.

The Board, having considered document GCF/B.06/16 Financial Terms and Conditions of Grants and Concessional Loans:

Requests the Secretariat to revise document GCF/B.06/16 for the seventh Board meeting, taking into account the ongoing work on the financial risk management and investment frameworks.

The Board:

Decides that its second meeting in 2014 will take place on 18-21 May 2014 in Songdo, Republic of Korea.

The Board, having considered document GCF/B.06/Inf.05 Logo of the Fund:

1. Requests the Secretariat to coordinate the re-design of the colour and shape of the proposed logo with the logo designer;
2. Requests the Logo Selection Panel to review the revised design and, if agreed, forward it to the Board for approval.

(This approved decision was originally presented in annex III to document GCF/B.06/19 titled “Report of the Sixth Meeting of the Board, 19-21 February 2014”)

The Board, through a decision taken between meetings on a no-objection basis:

Approved the accreditation of following organizations as observer organizations with the Fund:

International entities:

• Commonwealth Secretariat
• Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)
• Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW)
• Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)
• United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Civil society organizations:

• Amis de l’Afrique Francophone- Benin (AMAF-BENIN)
• Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF)
• Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
• Association Carre Geo & Environment
• BirdLife International
• Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP)
• Centre for Policy Research
• Clean Energy Business Council (CEBC)
• Frankfurt School of Finance and Management GmbH
• Future Forest (FF)
• Initiatives for Integrated and Sustainable Development
• Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR)
• International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
• International Child Welfare Organization
• International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED)
• LDC Watch
• International Solid Waste Association (ISWA)
• Leadership for Environment and Development (Lead)
• Pakistan Native American Rights Fund (NARF)
• Nexus-Carbon for Development
• Perserikatan Solidaritas Perempuan-Women’s Solidarity for Human Right
• Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN)
• Sudanese Environment Conservation Society (Secs)
• The Development Institute (DI)
• The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)
• Vasudha Foundation
• World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO)
• WWF International

Private sector organizations:

• Bea International
• Carbon Market Institute Limited
• Core CarbonX Solutions Private Limited
• Kommunalkredit Public Consulting GmbH (KPC)
• Nycon Energy AG
• PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC)
• Vertis Environmental Finance Ltd

The Board, through a decision taken between meetings on a no‐objection basis:

Appoints the following Board members/alternate members to the Investment Committee for its first term, in accordance with the Terms of Reference as set out in Annex XVII to document GCF/B.05/23:

1. Mr. Shri Dipak Dasgupta, Committee member;
2. Mr. Henrik Harboe, Committee member;
3. Mr. Rodrigo Rojo, Committee member;
4. Mr. Josceline Wheatley, Committee member;
5. Mr. Liang Ziqian, Committee member.

The Board, through a decision taken between meetings on a no‐objection basis:

Appoints the following Board members/alternate members to the Risk Management Committee for its first term, in accordance with the Terms of Reference, as set out in Annex XVI to document GCF/B.05/23:

1. Mr. Irfa Ampri, Committee member;
2. Mr. Arnaud Buisse, Committee member;
3. Ms. Irene Jansen, Committee member;
4. Mr. David Kaluba, Committee member;
5. Mr. Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, Committee member;
6. Mr. Kentaro Ogata, Committee member.

The Board, through a decision taken between meetings on a no-objection basis:

1. Approves the Board’s work plan for 2014, as set out in Annex I to this decision;
2. Approves the indicative timeline for the Board’s work plan for 2014, as set out in Annex II to this decision, noting that the Board may adjust the timeline on a meeting-by-meeting basis;
3. Requests the Secretariat to prepare documents listed in Annex III to this decision for the first Board meeting in 2014.

The Board:

Decides to amend paragraph (b) of decision B.04/15 by inserting “the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol” after “the Adaptation Fund”.

The Board:

1. Adopts the report of the fourth meeting, contained in document GCF/B.04/Drf.02;
2. Agrees to publish it on the Fund’s website (document GCF/04/18 Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Board, 26‐28 June 2013).

The Board:

1. Recalls decision B.04/04, paragraph (a), in which it noted convergence that the Fund will have a strategic focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation, and also seek to maximize sustainable development;
2. Recalls decision B.04/04, paragraph (b), in which it reaffirmed that country ownership will be a core principle of the business model framework of the Fund and that countries will identify their priority result areas in line with their national strategies and plans;
3. Notes convergence that ownership and access to Fund resources could be enhanced by inclusion of indicators capturing country‐driven policies that have the potential to promote a paradigm shift towards low‐emission and climate‐resilient development pathways in the context of sustainable development as set out in the Governing Instrument;
4. Further notes convergence on key criteria that may be considered through the results management framework when measuring performance of Fund activities, where appropriate, in addition to the core performance indicators, including potential for paradigm shift towards low‐emission and climate‐resilient development pathways; development co‐benefits; environmental co‐benefits; potential for replication and scalability; cost‐effectiveness; avoidance of lock‐in to high‐emission, low climate‐resilient alternatives; and finance mobilized from non‐public sources;
5. Adopts the initial result areas of the Fund, as contained in Annex I to this document, as initial areas of funding, in order to enable low‐emission and climate‐resilient development pathways;
6. Adopts the initial performance indicators of the Fund, as contained in Annex II to this document;
7. Decides that the Fund’s results management framework will:
   1. Enable effective monitoring and evaluation of the outputs, outcomes and impacts of the Funds’ investments and portfolio, and the Fund’s organizational effectiveness and operational efficiency;
   2. Include measurable, transparent, effective and efficient indicators and systems to support Fund’s operations, including, inter alia, how the Fund addresses economic, social and environmental development co‐benefits and gender sensitivity;
8. Further decides that the Fund, as a continuously learning institution, will maintain the flexibility to refine its results management framework, result areas and performance indicators, based on Fund experience in implementation and monitoring, and as evaluation outcomes become available, and that the lessons learned will feed back into the design, funding criteria and implementation of Fund activities, based on results;
9. Further decides that the Fund will assess project and programme proposals in each result area using the same impact indicators;
10. Further decides that national and sector‐wide indicators will be used only at the discretion of the recipient country;
11. Further decides that in designing a logical framework for results management, the Fund will develop indicators to measure the impact of the Fund on strategic improvements at a country level;
12. Further decides that in designing its results management framework, the Fund will use the experience of other relevant entities, and, where appropriate, align the framework and indicators with existing best practice models;
13. Requests the Secretariat to develop, for consideration by the Board at its second meeting in 2014, a detailed operational results management framework of the Fund, based on the initial result areas and core performance indicators and key criteria decided upon by the Board, taking into account the methodologies set out for illustrative purposes in Annex II of document GCF/B.05/03, input from technical expert bodies and the reporting capacity of countries;
14. Further requests the Secretariat to develop additional result areas and indicators for adaptation activities for consideration by the Board at its first meeting in 2014.

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.05/04 Business Model Framework: Financial Inputs:

1. Notes that the Fund will receive financial inputs from developed country Parties to the Convention;
2. Further notes that the Fund may also receive financial inputs from a variety of other sources, public and private, including alternative sources;
3. Decides that the Fund will maintain the flexibility to receive financial inputs on an on‐going basis;
4. Decides that the Fund will receive grants from public and private sources, and paid‐in capital contributions and concessional loans from public sources, and may receive additional types of inputs at a later stage to be decided by the Board;
5. Requests the Secretariat to include the specific risks associated with accepting concessional loans to the Fund, including the risk of cross‐subsidization, when developing the Fund’s risk management framework and investment strategy;
6. Requests the Secretariat to prepare a document for understanding and defining alternative sources of financial inputs to the Fund for consideration by the Board at its second meeting in 2014;
7. Requests the Secretariat to initiate discussions with the Interim Trustee to identify appropriate arrangements for receiving financial inputs;
8. Notes convergence on the importance of the relationship between the terms and conditions of financial instruments and the types of financial inputs received by the Fund.

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.05/05 Business Model Framework: Allocation:

1. Decides that the Fund will adopt a theme/activity‐based approach to the allocation of resources in order to meet the Fund’s objectives;
2. Decides that the Board will keep the allocation system under review with the intention of improving it over time;
3. Decides that the Fund will initially make allocations under adaptation, mitigation and the Private Sector Facility, and that there will be balance between adaptation and mitigation and the appropriate allocation of resources for other activities;
4. Decides that, in relation to adaptation, resources will be allocated based on:
   1. the ability of a proposed activity to demonstrate its potential to adapt to the impacts of climate change in the context of promoting sustainable development and a paradigm shift;
   2. the urgent and immediate needs of vulnerable countries, in particular LDCs, SIDS and African States;
5. Decides that, in relation to mitigation, resources will be allocated based on the ability of a proposed activity to demonstrate its potential to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the context of promoting a paradigm shift;
6. Decides that, in relation to the Private Sector Facility, resources will be allocated based on the contribution a proposed activity makes towards promoting a paradigm shift and to:
   1. Directly and indirectly finance private sector mitigation to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to the impacts of climate change activities;
   2. Promoting the participation of private sector actors in developing countries, in particular local actors, including small and medium‐sized enterprises and local financial intermediaries, and activities to enable private sector involvement in SIDS and LDCs;
7. Requests the Secretariat to develop and present to the Board at its second meeting in 2014 a resource allocation system, based on this decision and taking into consideration the views expressed by the Board, that facilitates:
   1. Cross‐cutting proposals;
   2. A results‐based approach;
   3. A country‐driven approach;
   4. A geographically balanced approach;
   5. Private sector mitigation and adaptation activities at the national, regional and international levels;
8. Further requests the Secretariat to develop and present an initial process for review and approval of proposals to the Board at its second meeting in 2014.

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.05/06 Business Model Framework: Countries’ Transparent No‐objection Procedure:

1. Takes note of the information presented in document GCF/B.05/06;
2. Provides guidance to the Interim Secretariat on the policy matters regarding country ownership under the Fund;
3. Requests the Interim Secretariat to revise document GCF/B.05/06 in view of the guidance provided, and present a revised version of this document for the consideration by the Board at its first meeting in 2014.

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.05/07 Terms and Criteria for Grants and Concessional Loans:

1. Decides to adopt, for the initial operationalization of the Fund, the principles and factors for the terms and conditions of grants and concessional loans, as contained in Annex III to this document;
2. Takes note of the criteria for the terms and conditions of grants and concessional loans, as contained in Annex IV to this document;
3. Requests the Secretariat to develop terms and conditions of grants and concessional loans for consideration by the Board at its first meeting in 2014, guided by these principles and criteria, and taking into consideration progress on the business model framework; and
4. Further requests the Secretariat to prepare a document for consideration by the Board at its third meeting in 2014 on the use of other financial instruments.

The Board, having considered document GCF/B.05/08 Business Model Framework: Access Modalities – Accreditation:

1. Notes convergence on the need to develop a guiding framework and procedures for the accreditation process of the Fund that enhances country ownership, accommodates different capacities and capabilities of countries, defines the Fund’s own fiduciary principles and standards and environmental and social safeguards, and accredits entities in a transparent, objective and credible manner, in line with the Fund’s objectives, results and guiding principles;
2. Acknowledges the best‐practice fiduciary principles and standards referred to inAnnex V and the environmental and social safeguards of the entities referred to in Annex VI to this document, as the basis for developing the Fund’s own criteria and standards;
3. Takes note of the list of considerations and initial criteria to inform the elaboration of the Fund’s criteria for accreditation of sub‐national, national, regional and international intermediaries and implementing entities, as presented in Annex VII to this document, and as part of the development of the guiding framework for the Fund’s accreditation process;
4. Requests a team of four Board members/alternate members to oversee the development of the guiding framework for the Fund’s accreditation process by the Secretariat, which will also include four senior international experts to be nominated by the Executive Director, for consideration by the Board no later than at its second meeting in 2014. This will include overseeing the development by the Secretariat of:
   1. The Fund’s own environmental and social safeguards and fiduciary principles and standards;
   2. The criteria and application procedures for the accreditation of intermediaries and implementing entities of the Fund;
   3. The most appropriate governance and organizational approach for the Fund’s accreditation process, including an Independent Technical Advisory Function to conduct the accreditation process, taking into account Annex X and Annex XI to this document, and the terms of reference contained in Annex XI, as appropriate;
   4. An assessment of the list of the institutions accredited by other funds, as contained in Annex VIII to this document, in light of the development of the guiding framework for the accreditation process of the Fund;
   5. Additional modalities that further enhance direct access, including through funding entities, with a view to enhancing country ownership of projects and programmes, for consideration by the Board at its first meeting in 2014;
5. Decides that the following Board members will be part of the team referred to above: Mr. Arnaud Buisse, H.E. Mr. Jan Cedergren, Mr. Derek Gibbs and Mr. David Kaluba;
6. Requests the Secretariat to undertake all necessary actions to ensure that the work of the team and the development of the guiding framework for the Fund’s accreditation process starts as soon as possible;
7. Approves the terms of reference of the senior international experts to be nominated by the Executive Director and to serve in the team, as contained in Annex IX to this document;
8. Further requests the Secretariat to initiate work on provisions for legal and formal arrangements with intermediaries and implementing entities, policies on fees and payments, and any other necessary elements to facilitate the prompt operationalization of the Fund’s accreditation process and its access modalities, and report on its progress at the first meeting of the Board in 2014;
9. Also requests the Secretariat to initiate urgently work and activities to support readiness for accreditation in interested sub‐national, national, regional and international intermediaries and implementing entities, in the context of the Fund’s programme of work on readiness and preparatory support and as discussed in document GCF/B.05/14, and report on its progress at the first meeting of the Board in 2014.

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.05/09 Progress Report of the Logo Selection Panel:

1. Notes that the entries received in the logo competition were not adequate to represent the identity and image of the Fund;
2. Decides that the logo competition will be cancelled, as recommended by the Logo Selection Panel;
3. Requests the Interim Secretariat, under the overall authority of the Executive Director, to contract a professional designer to design the logo of the Fund;
4. Requests the Logo Selection Panel to oversee the work on the design of the logo;
5. Requests the Interim Secretariat to undertake the work necessary to implement the new logo in all communication products of the Fund, once the selection has been made.

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.05/10 Initial Structure and Staffing of the Secretariat:

1. Decides on the initial structure of the independent Secretariat, as set out in Annex XII to this document;
2. Takes note of the organizational diagram, showing the initial organization of the Secretariat in 2014, as presented in Annex XIII to this document;
3. Authorizes the Executive Director to recruit initial staff as presented in Annex XIV to this document;
4. Endorses the process and timeframe for implementing the proposed initial structure of the Secretariat, as set out in Annex XV to this document.

The Board, having considered document GCF/B.05/11 Progress Report on the Administrative Policies and Guidelines of the Independent Secretariat:

1. Approves with immediate effect, in accordance with the Governing Instrument, the establishment of the GCF Secretariat, as the fully independent secretariat foreseen in paragraph 19 of the Governing Instrument;
2. Authorizes the Executive Director to take all necessary actions and to make, on behalf of the Fund, necessary arrangements and contracts to facilitate the establishment and operations of the GCF Secretariat in the Republic of Korea in order to allow the Fund to perform its functions;
3. Authorizes the Executive Director to recruit, pending selection of staff through competitive procedures and their recruitment according to decision B.05/10, on a short‐term temporary basis, staff and experts to assist her in her functions;
4. Requests the Secretariat to seek a legal opinion of the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations on whether, and if so, under which circumstances, the Fund might qualify for: (i) an institutional linkage with the United Nations; and (ii) a relationship agreement with the United Nations under which the officials of the Secretariat and other persons associated with the Fund can make use of the United Nations Laissez Passer;
5. Takes note of the plan for the preparation of the administrative policies and guidelines of the Secretariat, as presented in Section 3.2 of document GCF/B.05/11;
6. Requests the Executive Director to promulgate all administrative guidelines based on the authorization given to her through decision GCF/B.04/03, and to submit policies to the Board for approval.

The Board, having considered document GCF/B.05/12 General Guidelines for Committees and Panels:

1. Takes note of document GCF/B.05/12 General Guidelines for Committees and Panels;
2. Decides to continue establishing committees, panels and groups, by defining their purpose and functions, as well as their mode of operation, in the respective terms of reference, and to consider general guidelines for committees, panels and groups at a later stage, as necessary;
3. Notes that the Rules of Procedure of the Board will apply mutatis mutandis to the committees, panels and groups established.

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.05/13 Terms of Reference and Establishment of Committees and Panels:

1. Establishes the Risk Management Committee as a committee of the Board in accordance with decision B.04/08 and paragraphs 2 (g) and 30 of the Rules of Procedure of the Board;
2. Adopts the Terms of reference of the Risk Management Committee as set out in Annex XVI to this document;
3. Establishes the Investment Committee as a committee of the Board in accordance with decision B.04/08 and paragraphs 2 (g) and 30 of the Rules of Procedure of the Board;
4. Adopts the Terms of reference of the Investment Committee as set out in Annex XVII to this document;
5. Establishes the Ethics and Audit Committee as a committee of the Board in accordance with paragraphs 2 (g) and 30 of the Rules of Procedure of the Board;
6. Adopts the Terms of reference of the Ethics and Audit Committee as set out in Annex XVIII to this document;
7. Appoints the following Board members/alternate members as members of the Ethics and Audit Committee for its first term:
   1. Mr. Omar El‐Arini, Committee member;
   2. Ms. Ana Fornells de Frutos, Committee member;
   3. Ms. Beata Jaczewska, Committee member;
   4. Mr. Matthew Kotchen, Committee member;
   5. Mr. Ayman M. Shasly, Committee member; and
   6. Mr. Kwang‐Yeol Yoo, Committee member;
8. Establishes the Private Sector Advisory Group as a panel of the Board in accordance with decision B.04/08 and paragraphs 2 (o) and 32 of the Rules of Procedure of the Board;
9. Adopts the Terms of reference of the Private Sector Advisory Group as set out in Annex XIX to this document;
10. Appoints the following Board members/alternate members to the Private Sector Advisory Group for its first term in accordance with the Terms of reference as set out in Annex XIX to this document:
    1. Mr. Zaheer Fakir, panel member;
    2. Mr. Anton Hilber, panel member;
    3. Mr. Farrukh Iqbal Khan, panel member; and
    4. Mr. Matthew Kotchen, panel member;
11. Requests the Secretariat to initiate an open call for nominations, including from Board members, for the selection of four private sector representatives from developing countries, four private sector representatives from developed countries, and two civil society representatives, for membership of the Private Sector Advisory Group during its first term, in accordance with the Terms of reference as set out in Annex XIX to this document, with the appointment of nominated representatives subject to the approval by the Co‐Chairs;
12. Requests the Secretariat to convene the first meeting of the Ethics and Audit Committee and the Private Sector Advisory Group, in consultation with their respective Chairs, via videoconference prior to the first meeting of the Board in 2014; and
13. Invites the Ethics and Audit Committee and Private Sector Advisory Group to develop and present to the Board, at its first meeting in 2014, agreed work plans for their first 12 months of operation, which should take into account the Terms of reference, as set out in Annexes XVIII and XIX to this document, respectively.