Structured Dialogue with Latin America

The Green Climate Fund's Structured Dialogue with Latin America, organised in collaboration with the Government of Colombia from 5-8 March 2018, brought together key stakeholders to increase the involvement of Latin American countries with the GCF and to accelerate the implementation of GCF projects and programmes approved in Latin America. The meeting was attended by almost 200 participants from 19 countries, including the presence of the President of Colombia as well as seven Ministers and seven Vice Ministers from the various countries in the region.

The four day meeting included high-Level exchanges (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4) on the role of the GCF in priorities implementing Latin America's climate commitments, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). Here are some of the key outcomes:

• Discussions led to significant progress being made in the development of several Readiness proposals, PPF requests and Concept Notes. These included progress in the development of a Concept Note on action across the 'Dry Corridor' of Central America - a region strongly impacted by drought, crop losses, and hunger.
• Some new areas of collaboration such as energy, cities, electric transport, and forests and ecosystems were also developed between Latin American countries on climate change related issues and GCF. Examples of collaboration include discussions on developing a multi-country readiness proposal examining electric transport and mobility potential and solutions for the region;
• Work was advanced on several country programmes within the region. Country programmes build on NDC commitments and turn those into a practical programme of climate-related activities that GCF could support. Brazil's country programme is expected to be presented at the next GCF Board meeting, and is likely be the first in the region to be finalised.
• Discussions on the role of the private sector strengthened knowledge about the challenges and opportunities of engaging the sector in action against climate change in the region. Several Concept Notes are being developed with the aim of encouraging private sector climate action in Latin America.
• Positive progress was made to expand the number of country-level Accredited Entity partners in the region - the so-called Direct Access Entities. Working with national level bodies can help to ensure GCF projects are responsive to a country's needs, and several entities in Latin America are currently in GCF's accreditation pipeline.
• The REDD+ Request for Proposals was also the subject of much interest, with several countries including Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador discussing their interest in bringing proposals for support under this new GCF programme to protect forests.
• Some of the frequently asked questions and answers that emerged throughout the Dialogue are also captured in this Q&A document.

Feedback on the event was highly positive: 80% of participants surveyed were 'very satisfied', with the remaining 20% being 'satisfied', and all those surveyed agreed that the event had met its objectives. GCF will follow-up on many initiatives with participants in the coming months, building on the strong foundations of the event made possible by our hosts, the Colombian government.