The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has achieved a milestone in its mission to progress climate action in developing countries with pledges to GCF’s first replenishment now reaching over USD 10 billion.

With the Austrian Government’s pledge this week of EUR 100 million, GCF reached the USD 10 billion mark - calculated at today’s exchange rate - to further bolster its ability to fund climate finance projects across over 100 countries during the next four years.

“We must maintain climate ambitions in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic based on global solidarity,” GCF Executive Director Yannick Glemarec said in televised remarks during the Austrian World Summit.

“In this regard, I would like to thank the government of Austria for its new, additional contribution of EUR 100 million to the Green Climate Fund’s first replenishment, making a five-fold increase compared to our Initial Resource Mobilization in 2014 - a truly remarkable commitment.”

Austrian Minister for Climate Action Leonore Gewessler said GCF’s investment in climate action with high development co-benefits is now critical as developing countries face the effects of COVID-19.

“At a time when developing countries are facing massive unemployment and unprecedented economic contractions, GCF-financed projects translate national climate ambitions into reality and catalyse larger financial flows that are critical for economic recovery,” she added.

Austria’s financial boost of support for GCF adds to its earlier pledge, along with other countries, at GCF’s first pledging conference in October last year that pooled a total of USD 9.78 billion in climate finance.