The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) headquartered in Switzerland, is a non-profit organisation that operates internationally in over 150 countries with a wide range of members and partners, including States and government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), scientists and experts to find practical solutions to environment conservation and sustainable development challenges. It has a strong presence in countries in transition, least developed countries and small island developing States through its regional offices. Its overall programme of work focuses on valuing and conserving nature, ensuring effective and equitable governance of its use, and deploying nature-based solutions to global challenges such as climate change. IUCN does this by undertaking and supporting scientific research, managing and implementing field projects on the ground and bringing together various stakeholders to develop and improve policies, laws and best practices. Currently, IUCN has a project portfolio amounting to USD 330 million in grants. It is estimated that half of this portfolio addresses climate change adaptation issues, while 10 percent contributes to climate change mitigation through greenhouse gas emission reductions. IUCN intends to add significant value to GCF by implementing its mandate to build capacity, especially in relation to its national government and NGO members. IUCN also plans not only to work towards channelling funding from GCF to recipient countries, but also to contribute to enhancing their capacity to ensure that they have direct access to multilateral funding.
Accreditation timeline
Accreditation date
08 Mar 2016
AMA execution date
11 Oct 2016
AMA effectiveness date
11 Jan 2017
Re-accreditation date
07 Oct 2021
Amended & restated AMA execution date
10 Jan 2022
Amended & restated AMA effectiveness date
12 Jan 2022
Entity details
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Size
- Micro
- Small
- Medium
- Large
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Environmental and social risk category
- Category C
- Category B
- Category A
- Intermediation 3
- Intermediation 2
- Intermediation 1
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Fiduciary standards
- Basic
- Project management
- Grant award
- On-lending/blending:
- Loan
- Equity
- Guarantee
- Blending
Projects
Documents
Pages
News + Stories
How grass seeds are changing lives in Kenya
29 Sep 2025 / “TWENDE: Towards Ending Drought Emergencies” is a GCF-backed project that tackles drought and extreme weather events in Kenya. Katarzyna Lesiuk from GCF’s Africa Regional team conducted a project visit, during which she spoke with local partners and communities and witnessed the results firsthand. It was my first visit to Kenya, and while the weather was beautiful and the people were welcoming, what impressed me most was the sense that something important was developing here, beyond mere crops or fodder.
Maya-K'iche' in Guatemalan highlands embrace nature-based solutions
07 Feb 2025 / Tomás Cuterez Lares grew up in the highlands of Guatemala, where he lives with his extended family. At eleven years old, Cuterez Lares lost his father, an apple grower, to the armed conflict in the 1980s. As the eldest brother, this tragedy forced him to drop out of school and dedicate himself to farming. He began his community leadership journey at 16, which led him to co-found Cooperativa Integral Agrícola Unión Chipaquense (COINACHI). Passionate about the organisation's mission, he donated his own land for the organisation's operations.
Mayan youth promoting nature-based solutions for sustainable agriculture in Guatemalan highlands
09 Aug 2023 / A group of 30 young people in San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala, leverages sustainable agriculture and indigenous knowledge to help the local community adapt to climate change. The changing climate is drastically affecting ecosystems in the Guatemalan highlands resulting in hydrological cycle changes, increases in invasive species, and unprecedented effects on agricultural land. These changes are resulting in a lack of employment and an increase in migration, particularly for communities who depend on farming for their livelihoods.
GCF signs public-private partnership agreements to launch Global Subnational Climate Fund
23 Feb 2021 / The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has joined forces with Pegasus Capital Advisors and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in an innovative bundling of public-private financing to plug a funding gap for sub-national climate initiatives. GCF announced it has signed funding agreements with both organisations during a virtual briefing session for UN representatives in New York about the Global Subnational Climate Fund (SnCF Global), created to address a major deficit in climate finance.
Contacts
Director Multilateral Finance Unit
1630 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, United States
FRGS, Portfolio Manager Asia and Oceania - Multilateral Finance (GEF, GCF)
63 Sukhumvit Soi 39, Bangkok, Thailand