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).

Private sector strategy

Developing countries need USD 2–4 trillion annually to avert catastrophic climate change and mobilizing private capital at scale is critical to meeting this financing need. GCF, as the world’s largest multilateral climate fund and a hub of the climate finance architecture with over 200 accredited entities and delivery partners, is well positioned to make a substantial contribution to this effort. In line with GCF’s Governing Instrument and decision B.04/08, which decided that the Private Sector Facility will address barriers to private sector investment in adaptation and mitigation activities; the Board adopted at B.32 the Private Sector Strategy whose objective is to catalyze private climate finance in a manner fully aligned with a country-driven approach to meet developing countries’ needs and the objectives of the Updated Strategic Plan.

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

6 policies

Project approval process

5 policies

Resource mobilisation

2 policies

Results, monitoring and evaluation

7 policies

Risk management framework

10 policies

Sustainability policies

6 policies

Terms of reference

15 policies

Search policies

Title	Theme	Date
Updated terms of reference of the Technical Advisory Panel Adopted by decision B.BM-2018/09. Adopts the terms of reference of the independent Technical Advisory Panel.	Terms of reference	03 May 2018
Indigenous peoples policy Adopted by decision B.19/11. Sets out the approach to incorporating the circumstances of indigenous peoples into decision-making while working towards climate change mitigation and adaptation.	Sustainability policies	01 Mar 2018
General principles and indicative list of eligible costs covered under GCF fees and project management costs Adopted by decision B.19/09. Outlines the general principles and an indicative list of eligible costs to be covered under accredited entity fees and project management costs.	Accreditation framework	01 Mar 2018
Funding risk policy (Component VII) Adopted by decision B.19/04 (a) (iii). This document presents the policy governing funding risk management for the GCF.	Risk management framework	01 Mar 2018
Investment risk policy (Component V) Adopted by decision B.19/04 (a) (i). Defines the investment risk management requirements related to the risk of failure of a Funded Activity or Readiness / Project Preparation Facility (“PPF”) Proposal to deliver the expected impact, or the risk of delay or shortfall of reflows from these activities.	Risk management framework	01 Mar 2018
Non-financial risk policy (Component VI) Adopted by decision B.19/04 (a) (ii). This policy describes management approach to non-financial risks and the definition of non-financial risks.	Risk management framework	01 Mar 2018
Policy on fees Adopted by decision B.19/09. Updates the payments to be made by entities seeking accreditation.	Accreditation framework	01 Mar 2018
Risk dashboard (Component III) Adopted by decision B.19/04 (b). Presents an update to the risk dashboard.	Risk management framework	01 Mar 2018
Environmental and social policy Adopted by decision B.19/10; applicable to all projects up to B.32. Adopts the environmental and social management system and incorporates the environmental social policy, environmental social safeguards as part of the overarching environmental and social management system; adopts the environmental social policy that articulates how the GCF will integrate environmental and social considerations into its decision-making.	Sustainability policies	01 Mar 2018
Terms of reference of the permanent Trustee Adopted by decision B.19/03. Adopts the terms of reference of the permanent Trustee.	Terms of reference	01 Mar 2018

Policies & strategies