The eleventh meeting of the Green Climate Fund Board has opened in Livingstone, Zambia. The meeting takes place from 2 to 5 November with the approval of the first projects for the Fund high on the Board’s agenda.

Co-Chairs Henrik Harboe and Gabriel Quijandria opened the meeting, emphasizing the high expectations on the Fund from partners and stakeholders around the world. Nearly 300 participants are gathered in Zambia, where the Fund is expected to start allocating some of the USD 10 billion that have been raised as new resources for mitigation and adaptation investments to date.

Addressing this first ever meeting of the Fund in Africa, Executive Director Héla Cheikhrouhou stressed the strong progress made to date by the Fund. She highlighted the expectations for collaboration with the Fund that are set out by many developing countries within their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) ahead of the Paris COP later this month.

"We need to make the Fund a viable Partner to all countries, so that we can support the implementation of their strategic priorities," said Ms. Cheikhrouhou. “We need to ensure the Fund will deliver on its ambitious mandate," she added.

The opening remarks of GCF’s Executive Director are available here.