COP31: Green Climate Fund showcases climate impact amidst calls for an ambitious replenishment of the Fund

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) brought together government leaders and climate finance partners at COP31 on 11 November 2026 to showcase how GCF investments are delivering results for communities and to discuss what is needed to scale climate action in developing countries.

The Delivering Climate Impact: Lessons from the Frontline, moderated by Ambition Loop Co-founder and the Climate Champions Finance Lead, Jacinda Njike, highlighted how climate finance is strengthening resilience, expanding renewable energy, improving food and water security, and supporting communities facing growing climate impacts.

The event marked the first pledge to GCF’s third replenishment (GCF-3), with Solomon Islands Prime Minister H.E. Matthew Cooper Wale announcing a USD 400,000 contribution, the first ever pledge to GCF to be made by a Small Island Developing State or a Least Developed Country. He called for an ambitious and timely replenishment and emphasised the importance of country ownership, locally led solutions and climate finance that respond to the vulnerabilities of developing countries.

During the high-level segment, Principal Secretary in Kenya’s State Department for Environment and Climate Change, Dr. Eng. Festus K. Ng'eno, on behalf of Kenyan President William Ruto, called for climate finance to become more accessible, affordable and available for developing countries. He highlighted the role of multilateral climate funds such as GCF in reducing investment risks and costs, mobilising private capital and supporting country-owned climate programmes at scale. He stated that Kenya will be a champion for the GCF-3 replenishment, and welcomed the decision to open a regional office in Nairobi. 

Australia’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, Adaptation and Resilience, Hon. Kate Thwaites, highlighted the urgency of improving access to climate finance for Pacific Island countries, where communities are already experiencing rising sea levels, more intense storms, and growing pressure on livelihoods and infrastructure. She also welcomed GCF’s decision to establish a Pacific sub-regional office in Suva, Fiji, to strengthen regional capacity and help accelerate project development and delivery.

Sweden’s State Secretary to the Prime Minister, Anna Dahlberg, underscored the importance of impact, results, and value for money in climate finance, while calling for continued efforts to improve access, mobilise private capital, and accelerate delivery.

GCF Executive Director Mafalda Duarte said the success of climate finance should ultimately be measured by its impact on people’s lives.

GCF investments are already helping more than 375 million people adapt to climate change, supporting an additional 8.3 gigawatts of clean power and improving the management of nearly 40 million hectares.

Duarte provided examples of GCF climate investments already delivering results, including climate-resilient agriculture in Africa, improved water security in Sri Lanka and renewable energy in Djibouti.

She also highlighted GCF’s role in directing finance towards some of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Thirty-eight per cent of GCF financing currently goes to Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States.

“Climate finance is an investment in shared security and prosperity,” she said, highlighting the links between climate change and wider challenges around food, water, energy and economic security.

FAO Assistant Director-General Kaveh Zahedi highlighted lessons from the Ugbaad climate-resilient agriculture project in Somalia, where communities face the combined pressures of climate impacts and conflict. He emphasised the importance of understanding local conditions, working with communities and adapting implementation to changing circumstances.

Caribbean Development Bank President Daniel Best highlighted the potential of regional approaches to turn countries’ climate priorities into larger, more investable pipelines. Stronger project preparation, aggregation across smaller markets and strategic use of concessional finance, he said, can help countries attract investment and deliver climate action at scale.

Balkisou Bouba, Chair of the GCF Indigenous Peoples Advisory Group, stressed that locally led climate action must enable Indigenous Peoples to lead the design and implementation of solutions, rather than simply participate in them. She called for clearer pathways for Indigenous organisations to access climate finance, readiness and project preparation support suited to their needs, and financing that respects Indigenous knowledge, institutions and rights.

Save the Children Australia’s Director of Climate Change, Nick Ireland, highlighted how GCF-backed investments are strengthening climate resilience through education, water and health systems. Examples included climate-resilient education systems in Cambodia, South Sudan and Tonga, improved water access in Solomon Islands, and stronger climate-resilient health systems in Malawi.

The discussion also highlighted how public climate finance can help mobilise private investment by taking risks that commercial investors cannot initially bear. FMO Chief Finance and Operations Officer Idil Kural described how its partnership with GCF has helped address development and construction risks and enable renewable energy investments in emerging and frontier markets.

Across the event, speakers highlighted a common priority: climate finance needs to be easier to access, more responsive to country priorities and capable of mobilising investment at the scale required.

An ambitious GCF-3 replenishment would allow GCF and partners to build on lessons from GCF’s first decade, scale proven climate solutions and help developing countries move faster from climate ambition to implementation.

Visit GCF at COP31 to explore GCF’s events, announcements and activities at COP31, and to connect with us at the Climate Funds Pavilion.