Publications & documents
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
Annual Results Report 2020
Annual Results Report 2020: Climate action during the pandemic.
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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: Financing climate action
There is a shrinking window of opportunity to address the climate crisis. Average global temperature is currently estimated to be 1.1°C above pre-industrial times.
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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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GCF means business: How the world’s largest climate fund works with the financial sector to drive global change
Climate change offers businesses an unprecedented chance to capitalise on new growth and investment opportunities that can protect the planet as well.
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Thematic brief: Adaptation
March 2021
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is committed to investing in developing countries’ efforts to adapt to the effects of climate change. GCF is delivering on our targets for adaptation and resilience by ensuring a 50/50 balance in allocation of funding between mitigation and adaptation projects, with over 50% of adaptation funding going to Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) and African States. The Fund is uniquely placed to attract private investment by de-...
GCF's digital agenda: a briefing
March 2021
In order to deliver on the GCF-1 ambitions, the Secretariat has prioritized becoming a fully digital organization. It has developed the GCF Digital Agenda: 2020 – 2023, which has four objectives: Increase operational efficiency to improve speed of delivery Enhance transparency and accountability Improve GCF’s capacity to actively identify and manage risks Reduce workload and create a safe, innovative and flexible workplace In order to achieve these objectives, the Digital Agenda has...
GCF means business: How the world’s largest climate fund works with the financial sector to drive global change
February 2021
Climate change offers businesses an unprecedented chance to capitalise on new growth and investment opportunities that can protect the planet as well. GCF employs part of its funds to help mobilise financial flows from the private sector to compelling and profitable climate-smart investment opportunities. GCF's private sector support promotes private sector climate action in developing countries by de-risking the delivery of capital flows for low-carbon and climate-resilient development.
SAP Technical Guidelines: Agriculture
February 2021
This publication provides technical guidance for the preparation of SAP proposals. The agriculture thematic area encompasses agricultural production, land-use changes 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 manufacturing, retailing, consumption and food waste.
Country programme guidance
January 2021
Green Climate Fund (GCF) Country Programmes are the cornerstone of each country’s pipeline development with GCF. It is the first stage of the updated GCF project and programme cycle, and forms the basis for prioritising the further development of funding proposals for projects and programmes submitted by Accredited Entities on behalf of countries for funding. Countries are encouraged to develop a GCF Country Programme to drive their project and programme pipelines with GCF, and countries may...
Enhancing Direct Access Guidelines
January 2021
The Green Climate Fund (GCF), Enhancing Direct Access (EDA) pilot intends to boost access by sub-national, national and regional, public, and private entities to GCF climate finance. EDA promotes country ownership of projects and programmes and devolves decision-making to local actors. This publication provides non-prescriptive guidance about how to structure an EDA Pilot intervention. It is primarily intended to support GCF Direct Access Entities (DAEs), National Designated Authorities and...
The Green Climate Fund and the International Development Finance Club: A strategic alliance to realize the full potential of public development banks in financing the green and climate-resilient transition
November 2020
In the current pandemic we are facing, Public Development Banks are repositioning their role in driving climate ambition and building momentum in the lead up to COP 26. The IDFC, a group of 26 national and regional PDBs worldwide committed to aligning their activities with the Paris agreement, and GCF, set up by the UN to help developing countries combat climate change, have formed a strategic alliance to help PDBs finance a green and climate resilient transition. This joint working paper...
GCF in Brief: The Green Climate Fund: Realising the Climate Potential of Public Development Banks
November 2020
The Green Climate Fund is working to realise the potential of Public Development Banks to finance the green and climate-resilient transition. Ahead of the first ever gathering of 450+ public development banks for the Financing in Common Summit from 9-11 November, this factsheet sets out how GCF is partnering with PDBs around the world to drive the financial transition that the world needs to reach its climate goals.
SAP Technical Guidelines: Water Security
October 2020
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...
Project Preparation Facility Guidelines
October 2020
GCF's Project Preparation Facility (PPF) provides financial support to Accredited Entities (AE) in preparing funding proposals for submission to the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The PPF supports AEs in preparing full Funding Proposals for consideration by the Board, based on a Concept Note that has been cleared for project preparation support vis-àvis GCF investment criteria. This publication provides practical guidelines to help AEs in preparing and submitting PPF requests to the GCF secretariat.
Tipping or turning point: Scaling up climate finance in the era of COVID-19
October 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the world to a tipping point or a turning point in the fight against climate change. Decisions taken by leaders today to revive economies will either entrench our dependence on fossil fuels or put us on a path to achieve the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For the COVID-19 pandemic to prove a turning point, climate action and COVID-19 economic stimulus measures must be mutually supportive; and developing countries must be able to...
GCF in Brief: Adaptation Planning
September 2020
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.
Enhancing access to climate finance through readiness support
September 2020
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) are capitalising on their shared ability to help developing countries take climate action. Nowhere is this clearer than in GGGI’s role as a major delivery partner of grant funds from GCF’s Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme (the Readiness Programme) – designed to widen the scope of climate-focused financial resources for developing countries. GCF’s Readiness Programme is particularly well suited to help bolster...
The Espejo de Tarapacá project: at a glance
July 2020
Chile is striving to transition from its current dependence on fossil fuels to a low-emission, climate-resilient economy, and expand its population’s access to sustainable energy - as well as potable water. Chile’s goal is for renewables to account for 70 per cent of the country’s power needs by 2050. Its current electricity grid consists of unpredictable hydropower and high-emission sources that contribute to climate change. The current lack of clean, reliable energy and water security...
Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund: at a glance
July 2020
While the private sector plays an increasingly important role in renewable energy markets, there is a dearth of business support for climate adaptation, especially for smallholder farmers who bear the brunt of global warming. The innovative Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) project draws in private sector investment to help small- scale farmers adapt, made possible by GCF’s anchor investment. This case study for FP078: Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund provides an overview of the...
Bhutan for life: at a glance
July 2020
GCF joined the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Royal Government of Bhutan and other partners to create the Bhutan for Life project, which was approved in 2017. At the heart of this conservation effort is an innovative financial structure to permanently protect Bhutan’s network of Protected Areas. This case study for FP050: Bhutan for Life provides an overview of the project, expected results and impacts, as well as GCF's unique and innovative role.
GCF Programming Manual: an introduction to the Green Climate Fund project cycle and project development tools for full-size projects
July 2020
The GCF Programming Manual provides an overview of the GCF project/programme approval process, as adopted by the Board, to its stakeholders, including national designated authorities and accredited entities. It also offers guidance on how to prepare and submit a funding proposal that meets GCF investment criteria. The Programming Manual aims to make project origination, development, appraisal, approval and implementation processes more transparent and predictable, as well as to simplify the...
Report on the progress of the Green Climate Fund during its initial resource mobilization period (January 2015 through March 2020)
April 2020
The Green Climate Fund is a unique institution. It is the manifestation of a joint global commitment to fight climate change and a crucial element of the Paris Agreement. Over the past five years, it has developed from an idea of solidarity between developed and developing countries to a crucial force in countering climate change and its effects. Over the past five years, GCF has committed over USD 5.6 billion of its own investment to support 129 projects in 108 countries and delivered more...
Synergies between climate finance mechanisms
April 2020
Collaboration between climate finance funds can enhance countries' resources and results. A report jointly commissioned by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) shows that country-driven coordination and collaboration between funds in blending finance can lead to better development outcomes, enhanced efficiency, and increased financing in developing countries. The study, "Synergies Between Climate Finance Mechanisms," is the result of a multilevel analysis of...