Policies and strategies

As part of its mandate, the GCF Board approves specific operational policies and guidelines, including for programming, project cycle, administration, and financial management. The Board also approves strategies, which guide the overall direction of Fund operations. Together, these strategies and policies establish the framework for implementation of the GCF’s Governing Instrument.

Governing Instrument

The Governing Instrument for the Green Climate Fund was approved by the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at its seventeenth session on 11 December 2011 in Durban, South Africa.

Strategic plan

The Board has adopted the GCF Strategic Plan, which sets out its long-term vision for the Fund, as well as its objectives, strategic priorities and operational priorities for the current programming period. The initial Strategic Plan was adopted in 2016 for the Initial Resource Mobilization period (2015-2019). The Strategic Plan was then updated in 2020 for the GCF first replenishment period (2020-2023).

Policy map

GCF policy frameworks generally include a mix of top-level policies adopted by the Board to govern a specific subject matter, the related Board decisions which adopt the policies and may contain additional policy provisions, and other policy instruments (such as standards or guidelines) which further elaborate how policies should be operationalized. The main GCF policy frameworks, aligned with the Governing Instrument, are shown in the boxes below.

Clicking on the boxes will take you to the policies in each framework. Alternately, you can search across the entire suite of policies through the search function below.

Accreditation framework

11 policies

Administrative policies

14 policies

Business model and allocation framework

1 policy

Complementarity and coherence

1 policy

Country ownership

5 policies

Financial instruments

2 policies

Integrity policies

6 policies

Investment framework

5 policies

Observers

2 policies

Operations of the Board

3 policies

Project approval process

4 policies

Resource mobilisation

2 policies

Results, monitoring and evaluation

6 policies

Risk management framework

10 policies

Sustainability policies

6 policies

Terms of reference

15 policies

Search policies

Title	Theme	Date
Revised environmental and social policy Adopted by decision B.BM-2021/18; applicable to all projects from B.32 onwards. Revises the environmental and social policy to reaffirm the Fund's commitment to addressing Sexual Exploitation, Sexual Abuse, and Sexual Harassment in addition to environmental and social considerations in its funded activities.	Sustainability policies	13 Sep 2021
Revised initial financial risk management framework Sets out the financial risk policies, risk monitoring and reporting, and risk governance components, as updated by the Risk Management Committee.	Risk management framework	30 Jul 2021
Integrated results management framework Adopted by decision B.29/01; applicable from B.32 onwards. Establishes an updated results management framework that integrates and supersedes the initial results management framework and performance measurement frameworks, to allow the Fund to measure and report the impact of its investments.	Results, monitoring and evaluation	16 Jul 2021
Updated terms of reference of the Independent Evaluation Unit Adopted by decision B.BM-2021/15. Adopts the updated terms of reference of the Independent Evaluation Unit.	Terms of reference	25 Jun 2021
Administrative remedies and exclusion policy Adopted by decision B.BM-2021/09. Sets out the administrative process by which the Fund determines, through administrative proceedings or settlements, whether or not to apply administrative remedies and exclusions against counterparties found to have engaged in prohibited practices in connection with Fund-related Activities.	Integrity policies	12 May 2021
Revised policy on the prevention and protection from Sexual Exploitation, Sexual Abuse, and Sexual Harassment Adopted by decision B.BM-2021/08. This policy sets out the obligations for GCF Covered Individuals to prevent and respond to SEAH and to refrain from condoning, encouraging, participating in, or engaging in SEAH.	Integrity policies	11 May 2021
Evaluation policy for the GCF Adopted by decision B.BM-2021/07. Sets out the evaluation policy to assess the results, performance, efficiency and effectiveness of the GCF in delivering its mandate.	Results, monitoring and evaluation	04 May 2021
Updated independent Technical Advisory Panel review procedure Adopted by decision B.28/03. Establishes an updated independent Technical Advisoy Panel review procedure.	Project approval process	19 Mar 2021
Initial investment framework (updated) Adopted by decision B.07/06 (a); updated in decision B.27/06 (k); applicable from B.27 onwards. Sets out the Fund's investment policies, investment guidelines (including investment criteria) and updated investment strategy and portfolio targets for GCF-1.	Investment framework	13 Nov 2020
Updated Strategic Plan for the Green Climate Fund 2020-2023 Adopted by decision B.27/17. Sets out the funding allocation parameters and guidelines from B.27 onwards for the GCF-1 period.	Business model and allocation framework	13 Nov 2020

Policies & strategies