Secretariat
Overview
GCF has a fully independent Secretariat which is responsible for executing the day-to-day operations of the Fund. It services and is accountable to the Board.
Today, GCF has around 220 staff members at its headquarters, in addition there are a number of consultants who support the staff. Some limited support is being provided offsite, in other countries.
With close to a 50/50 balance between men and women, 61 nationalities, and many more languages spoken, GCF's diversity reflects the global nature of the climate challenge.
Structure
The GCF secretariat is composed of several divisions and offices that report to the Office of Executive Director.
Divisions & offices
The Office of the Executive Director is responsible for overall management of the Secretariat. This includes executive leadership across the Secretariat; strategic leadership and direction-setting in policy and planning; oversight of operations, programming, and partnership development; climate and impact advisory; and coordination of knowledge management.
The Office of the General Counsel provides legal services of the highest quality to the Board, the Secretariat and the Independent Units of the Fund so as to preserve and uphold the mandate set out in the Fund’s Governing Instrument and the policies and procedures adopted by the Board. OGC supports the drafting and negotiation of legal agreements, the drafting of new policies, procedures and regulations, dispute resolutions and other corporate activities. OGC is divided into the institutional and operations divisions.
The Office of Governance Affairs provides support across the governance structure of the GCF. This includes supporting the Board decision-making process; managing GCF response to UNFCCC COP guidance; coordinating engagement with other funds and relevant multilateral governance processes; and developing and implementing the policies of information disclosure and observer participation.
The mission of the Office of Risk Management and Compliance (ORMC) is to: (a) develop, manage and update comprehensive risk and compliance frameworks, policies and processes; (b) identify, prioritize, monitor and manage actual and potential risks affecting the GCF; and (c) review proposed and actual GCF investments to ensure that they are within the Fund’s risk tolerances and comply with the Fund’s compliance policies.
The Office of the Internal Auditor’s mission is to add value to the Green Climate Fund, improve the Fund’s operations, and help the Fund accomplish its objectives. It does so by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to assess, evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes.
The Office of Human Resources (OHR)’s mission is to maintain GCF as an employer of choice, attracting, nurturing, developing and retaining world class talent to enable GCF to reach its ambitious goals in climate finance.
The mission of the Office of Sustainability and Inclusion (OSI) is to ensure environmental and social co-benefits for people and planet and in parallel to apply a suite of related policies and safeguards standards. OSI manages and applies the environmental and social safeguards standards and the Revised Environmental and Social Policy, as well as safeguards against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment; ensures a gender-responsive approach through gender mainstreaming in line with the Updated Gender Policy; drives implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Policy and supports the Indigenous Peoples Advisory Group. We provide expert assessments and advice, and undertake due diligence on environmental and social matters, to successfully execute GCF’s mission and ensure that investments are sustainable and inclusive.
The Division of External Affairs’ objective is to promote the strategic positioning of GCF as a partner of choice for climate finance to drive global climate action. To achieve this objective, DEA helps driving a compelling narrative for the fund, supports replenishment and resource mobilization, and maintains and expands partnerships and external engagement.
The Division of Mitigation and Adaptation (DMA) provides technical expertise across all eight mitigation and adaptation results areas for both public and private sector CNs and funding proposals. The Division also leads the preparation and review of public sector CNs and funding proposals. It assists NDAs and AEs in the development and structuring of projects and plays a critical role in finalizing the FAAs following project approval to enable projects to start implementation. In addition, DMA is responsible for managing the GCF REDD-plus results-based payments pilot programme and the Enhancing Direct Access (EDA) Pilot Programme. DMA provides the interdivisional management of the Simplified Approval Process (SAP) and the Project Preparation Facility (PPF), including the administration of their roster of international firms. Finally, it carries out technical reviews of draft country and entity work programmes.
The Division of Portfolio Management ensures timely delivery of projects/programs and that GCF learns from experience to deliver sustainable results through early warning systems, adaptive management approaches, promoting results and knowledge management as well as learning to improve project impacts in line with GCF objectives.
The Division of Country Programming (DCP) supports developing countries and accredited entities, particularly direct access entities, to plan, identify, design and submit country-driven, transformational climate investments in line with countries’ NDCs, NAPs, and other national climate strategies, and manages accreditation and entity relations to enable a programming-driven network of accredited entities capable of delivering on country-driven transformational projects and guided by GCF strategic priorities.
The mission of the Division of Private Sector Facility (DPSF) is to catalyze private climate finance to meet the needs of a developing countries for low emissions, climate resilient development. It engages with the local and international private sector and funds proposals that accelerate climate innovation, de-risk market creating investments as well as strengthen domestic and regional financial institutions.
The Division of Support Services provides a range of corporate services that are critical to enabling the GCF to carry out its daily activities with efficiency and financial integrity, including financial management, event and travel management, administration, ICT, procurement, and the treasury function.