Green Climate Fund backs new national platform to scale green investment in Mongolia

The Mongolia Green Finance Corporation (MGFC), a new public-private institution designed to scale up green investment across Mongolia, officially launched on 20 August 2026 at the High-Level Sustainable Finance Forum 2026, held alongside the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) in Ulaanbaatar. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a key investor in MGFC, providing USD 26.654 million in concessional finance — grants, loans, and equity combined — that anchors a total project of USD 49.654 million.

The launch was attended by the Prime Minister of Mongolia, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and the Head of Mongolia's Financial Regulatory Commission, alongside MGFC Chief Executive Officer Bold Magvan and representatives of the Development Bank of Mongolia (DBM), the Credit Guarantee Fund (CGF), XacBank and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). GCF was represented by Hemant Mandal, Director of the Asia and Pacific Region.

From the outset, GCF's aim was not only to finance individual green investments in Mongolia, but also to help establish a national institution capable of sustaining them — bringing together the Government of Mongolia and the country's financial sector on a single platform. GCF's support to MGFC has moved through each stage of that process: Readiness support to shape the concept, the Project Preparation Facility to structure it, and direct investment — grant, concessional loan and equity — to get it operating.

MGFC's design reflects GCF's Private Sector Strategy, which prioritises strengthening domestic and regional financial institutions and using de-risking, market-creating capital to draw in private investment that would not otherwise reach these markets on these terms. As a dedicated financing vehicle, MGFC is expected to build a pipeline of bankable green projects over time, demonstrating their commercial viability and establishing the track record needed to attract further domestic and international capital.

Over its lifetime, MGFC is expected to reduce emissions by 3,754,767 tonnes of CO2 and to benefit 86,291 people directly, including 43,145 women, and a further 1,491,375 people indirectly. GCF's Mongolia portfolio also includes the 2019 Sumber soum solar plant, financed with XacBank — the country's first bank-financed, utility-scale solar project, now powering some 20,000 households.

GCF's Director of the Asia and Pacific Region, Hemant Mandal, said, “GCF's vision for MGFC is to build a lasting national green finance institution that goes beyond financing a portfolio of projects. With USD 26.6 million in GCF financing anchoring a USD 50 million vehicle, expected to cut emissions by close to 3.75 million tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime, MGFC shows what that vision looks like in practice — a locally-anchored platform using catalytic capital to build a track record, crowd in private investment, and grow the market for green finance in Mongolia and the region."

GCF provided support for the development of the MGFC from concept to operationalisation. This started with Readiness support, followed by the Project Preparation Facility, and ultimately GCF’s investment through equity, concessional debt and technical assistance. This long-term engagement reflects GCF’s commitment not only to providing capital, but also to building the institutions needed to sustain climate finance.

MGFC is intended to offer a model beyond Mongolia's borders: how a locally anchored institution can connect national climate priorities with both domestic savings and international capital, helping build sustainable climate-finance markets across the region.