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

The Board adopted at B.32 the Private Sector Strategy, which sets out the four pillars through which the GCF aims to catalyze private climate finance in a country-driven manner to meet developing countries’ needs and the objectives of the Updated Strategic Plan.

Guidance on adaptation

The Board welcomed at B.33 the Guidance on adaptation which speaks to the GCF’s vision, strategic approach, and scope for supporting adaptation programming, and how the GCF aims to deliver this through its range of modalities that support adaptation activities.

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

12 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

6 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
Policy on ethics and conflicts of interest for the Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund Secretariat Adopted by decision B.10/13 (c). Sets out the ethics and conflicts of interest policies for the Executive Director.	Administrative policies	09 Jul 2015
Policy on ethics and conflicts of interest for external members of the Green Climate Fund panels and groups Adopted by decision B.10/13 (a). Sets out the ethics and conflicts of interest policies for external members of the GCF panels and groups.	Administrative policies	09 Jul 2015
Draft provisions for privileges and immunities Adopted by decision B.10/12 (a). Sets out the status, immunities, exemptions and priviledges of the Fund in the territory of [country].	Administrative policies	09 Jul 2015
Terms of reference for a pilot phase enhancing direct access to the Green Climate Fund Adopted by decision B.10/04. The objective of the pilot phase for enhancing direct access is to allow for an effective operationalisation of modalities with the potential to enhance access by sub-national, national and regional, public and private entities.		09 Jul 2015
Administrative guidelines on the internal control framework and internal audit standards Adopted by decision B.BM-2015/06 (a). Adopts the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) framework as the internal control framework for the GCF. Adopted by decision B.BM-2015/06 (c). Establishes the administrative guidelines on the internal control framework and internal audit standards.	Risk management framework, Administrative policies	27 Jun 2015
Administrative guidelines on the budget and accounting system Adopted by decision B.BM-2015/05. These guidelines formulate and document procedures to implement policies; ensures that all financial transactions are recorded, define financial operating controls; includes implementation and compliance modalities and exemptions.	Administrative policies	15 Jun 2015
Initial investment framework: activity-specific sub-criteria and indicative assessment factors Adopted by decision B.09/05 (b). Sets out definitions of the Fund's investment criteria, activity-specific sub-criteria, and indicative assessment factors AEs should use to inform the development of funding proposals.	Investment framework	26 Mar 2015
Policy on ethics and conflicts of interest for the Board of the Green Climate Fund Adopted by decision B.09/03 (a). Sets out the ethics and conflicts of interest policies for the Board.	Administrative policies	26 Mar 2015
Legal and formal arrangements with Accredited Entities Adopted by decision B.09/08 (a). Sets out how the Fund shall enter into agreements or other arrangements with entities upon their accreditation.	Accreditation framework	26 Mar 2015
Financial terms and conditions of grants and concessional loans Adopted by decision B.09/04. Adopts the financital terms and conditions of grants and concessional loans and specifies the conditions for deployment of funding instruments.	Financial instruments	26 Mar 2015

Policies & strategies