Data & resources
Publications
The Green Climate Fund issues a range of publications for our direct and indirect stakeholders on a diversity of issues – for the general public to industry experts. Stay in tune with our mission and activities around the planet with the issues that speak to you.
Featured publications
GCF-1 Progress Report
Over the past four years, in the face of COVID-19, political and economic crises, the need for urgent climate action has become ever clearer.
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Making blended finance work for nature-based solutions
There is global recognition that biodiversity loss is just as urgent as the climate crisis and that they are intimately linked.
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GCF: Catalysing finance for climate solutions
The window to address the climate crisis is rapidly shrinking. Floods, droughts, heatwaves, extreme storms, and wildfires are breaking records with alarming frequency around the world.
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GCF at a glance
This publication is a useful reference of GCF's portfolio, providing an overview of GCF's projects and programmes, geographic distribution, and breakdowns of GCF funding.
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GCF at a glance: Performance metrics
This publication provides a detailed breakdown of performance metrics that show GCF’s operational progress as we seek to deliver climate finance more quickly and with greater impact.
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GCF Programming Manual: An introduction to the Green Climate Fund project cycle and project development tools for full-size projects
The GCF Programming Manual provides an overview of the GCF project/programme approval process.
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Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH) risk assessment guideline
June 2023
This tool is a guide to help the Secretariat, AEs and executing entities (EEs) understand SEAH and be able to assess the SEAH risks related to proposed projects in order to predict, mitigate and ideally prevent SEAH from occurring. The tool applies to all GCF-financed activities and to both public and private sector entities. It may be updated by GCF periodically, as required, in order to further incorporate good practice and lessons learned, and to mirror the evolution of GCF’s ESS standards.
GCF-1 Progress Report
May 2023
Over the past four years, in the face of COVID-19, political and economic crises, the need for urgent climate action has become ever clearer. The GCF-1 Progress Report, available in both web and pdf versions, highlights the extensive progress made by GCF in delivering high-impact climate finance during the 2020-2023 period (referred to as ‘GCF-1’), ahead of its replenishment for the next four years. The GCF-1 Progress Report records the significant expansion of the Fund during this period,...
Readiness and Preparatory Support guidebook: A practical guide on how to prepare readiness proposals and how to implement readiness grants
April 2023
GCF’s Readiness Programme is a crucial element of the Fund’s approach to ensuring country ownership and facilitating increased flows of climate finance. Developing countries can access Readiness resources to support capacity building, strategic frameworks, National Adaptation Plans and Adaptation Planning processes, the development of project and programme pipelines, and knowledge sharing and learning. The revised GCF Readiness Guidebook provides a complete overview of the Readiness Programme,...
Making blended finance work for nature-based solutions
March 2023
There is global recognition that biodiversity loss is just as urgent as the climate crisis and that they are intimately linked. One effective solution is to use nature-based solutions which can address the climate crisis, land degradation and biodiversity loss, as well as contribute to addressing a variety of social issues, such as water scarcity management and poverty alleviation. Nature-based solutions have enormous potential, however they are greatly underfunded. Thus, there is an urgent...
GCF: Catalysing finance for climate solutions
March 2023
The window to address the climate crisis is rapidly shrinking. Floods, droughts, heatwaves, extreme storms, and wildfires are breaking records with alarming frequency around the world. Failure to limit global warming to the Paris Agreement targets will result in even more devastating consequences for people and planet, with vulnerable populations suffering the most. Ambitious action is urgently needed both to reduce emissions and to adapt to the changing climate in developing countries. A...
SAP Technical Guidelines: Ecosystems and ecosystem services
February 2023
The publication provides technical guidance for the preparation of SAP proposals. The thematic area of ecosystems and ecosystem services encompasses all natural environments and the productive uses that are based on them. This can range from environments not directly impacted by human activities – for example, remote rainforests, alpine regions or coral reefs – to environments that are intensively managed – such as agricultural areas or managed forests for timber production. Given that there...
SAP Technical Guidelines: Transport
February 2023
The publication provides technical guidance for the preparation of SAP proposals. Although there is no one standard definition of the transport sector, it can be described as including all kinds of transportation, such as road, rail and maritime transport, and aviation. Please note that the English document is currently the most up to date version of the technical guideline. The French and Spanish translations are being reviewed and will be soon available for download.
SAP Technical Guidelines: Cities and climate change
February 2023
Traditionally, cities are defined as large human settlements, with no one standardized definition applied internationally. Frequently, national governments have criteria they use to define urban areas. These criteria can vary to include aspects such as administrative boundaries, living conditions or population density. Another approach is what is termed “urban agglomeration”, which considers the extent of an urban area, or sometimes, that of a built-up area, to identify a city’s boundaries....
SAP Technical Guidelines: Forests and land use
February 2023
This publication provides technical guidance for the preparation of SAP proposals. The thematic area of forest and land use encompasses forests and other multiple land-cover types where forests are a prominent component of the landscape. This can range from natural forests, where ecosystems are not directly impacted by human activities (e.g. primary forests) to more intensively transformed landscapes – such as secondary growth forests, degraded forest landscapes, agroforestry systems and trees...
SAP Technical Guidelines: REDD+
February 2023
This guidance has been developed to support GCF accredited entities (AEs) and national designated authorities (NDAs) in their preparation of concept notes and funding proposals under the simplified approval process for REDD+ (REDD+ SAP). Please note that the English document is currently the most up to date version of the technical guideline. The French and Spanish translations are being reviewed and will be soon available for download.
SAP Technical Guidelines: Energy efficiency for industry and appliances
February 2023
This publication provides technical guidance for the preparation of SAP proposals. Energy efficiency (EE) is the process of reducing the energy consumption of infrastructure, facilities, machines, devices, products, services, business processes, activities and transport. It can be thought of as the first fuel of a sustainable world and as such it has a key role in ensuring cost-effective energy transitions. Please note that the English document is currently the most up to date version of the...
SAP Technical Guidelines: Renewable energy
February 2023
This publication provides technical guidance for the preparation of SAP proposals. Renewable energy (RE) is produced using natural resources that are constantly replaced within the human timescale. Just as there are many natural sources of energy, there are many technologies that can help to harness RE sources. Solar photovoltaic (PV) is the most well- known, wind power is the most widespread and hydropower is one of the oldest. Other RE technologies harness geothermal energy, solid waste or...
SAP Technical Guidelines: Water security
February 2023
This publication provides technical guidance for the preparation of simplified approval process (SAP) proposals for water security projects. GCF defines the water sector as encompassing surface freshwater resources and groundwater, but not oceans. Since the water sector is interlinked with several other sectors, such as agriculture and ecosystems, it is necessary to delineate its scope. Thus, the emphasis in this technical guidance a is on four sub-sectors: Integrated water resources...
SAP Technical Guidelines: Agriculture and food security
February 2023
This publication provides technical guidance for the preparation of SAP proposals. The agriculture thematic area encompasses agricultural production, land-use change caused by agricultural production and the food system in general. Agricultural production covers crop production and livestock. In addition to agricultural production the food system includes all steps from “farm to fork”: post-harvest handling, storage, manufacturing, processing, transport, retailing, consumption and food loss and...
Sectoral guides' summaries
December 2022
This document provides a summary of the ten GCF sectoral guides. Each guide covers one of the sectors in which GCF operates in detail, outlining the global context for that sector, two to four paradigm shifting pathways that have potential for greatest impact, information on how these pathways can be financed, examples of cases that illustrate the potential in the sector, and the GCF investment criteria. The summaries focus on the paradigm shifting pathways and the role of GCF in financing...
Simplified Approval Process (SAP) funding proposal preparation guidelines: A practical manual for the preparation of SAP proposals
December 2022
These guidelines have been developed to support GCF accredited entities (AEs) in the preparation of funding proposals under the simplified approval process (SAP) pilot scheme. This document provides general clarifications on the indicative content expected in a SAP funding proposal submitted to GCF. More specific SAP Technical Guidelines on the type of activities by sector have also been developed separately by the Secretariat. This document refers to policies approved by the GCF Board in...
Egypt’s climate investment plan: From climate strategy to investment plan
November 2022
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Government of Egypt (GoE) announces the launch of the Egypt Climate Investment Plan at COP27. The plan will be developed in two volumes covering investment needs and ambition (Volume 1) and how the GoE, GCF, and other climate financiers can systematically match different financial resources, maximising the sources of funding available (Volume 2). This brochure provides an overview of the background to, and role of the investment plan, and highlights some of...
GCF in Brief: Adaptation Planning
November 2022
The Green Climate Fund is committed to investing in developing countries’ efforts to adapt to the effects of climate change. GCF aims to deliver a 50:50 balance between mitigation and adaptation allocations in its portfolio, and ensure that at least 50% of adaptation funding goes to particularly vulnerable countries, including LDCs, SIDS and African States. This factsheet provides an overview of how GCF supports adaptation planning in the countries where it operates.
Sectoral guide: Energy efficiency
September 2022
On a global scale, energy efficiency (EE) addresses critical issues in the production, transformation, delivery, and consumption of energy – and associated materials and resources - across all economic sectors, societal groups, income levels and geographies. It is an essential approach for mitigating climate change by reducing energy-related CO2 emissions as well as reducing and offsetting energy demand growth. Above all, there is an immediate need to consolidate and mainstream an effective,...
Sectoral guide: Climate information & early warning systems
September 2022
Between 1970 and 2019, 79% of disasters worldwide were caused by weather, water, and climate-related hazards. These disasters accounted for 56% of deaths and 75% of reported economic losses associated with natural hazard events. The situation is particularly acute in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The intensity and frequency of climate-related disasters are projected to increase as climate change gathers pace, thus presenting a significant risk to...