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: 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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Annual Results Report 2021
Annual Results Report 2021: Promoting low emission, climate-resilient recovery and maintaining climate ambitions during the pandemic.
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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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Simplified Approval Process (SAP) funding proposal preparation guidelines: A practical manual for the preparation of SAP proposals
December 2019
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 guidelines on the type of activities by sector will be developed separately by the Secretariat. This document refers to policies approved by the GCF Board in relation to the...
The Green Climate Fund’s Private Sector Facility
October 2019
GCF has a Private Sector Facility (PSF), with the primary mission to engage both the local and global private sector to support climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in developing countries. This brochure provides an overview of the PSF.
Raising ambition. Empowering action: Report on the progress of the Green Climate Fund during its initial resource mobilization period (January 2015 to July 2019)
October 2019
Since approving its first projects in 2015, GCF has grown and delivered. In these first four and a half years of operation, GCF has become the world’s largest dedicated climate fund, equally committed to supporting countries in adapting to climate change and to driving the transformation to low-emission economies. This report covers the results of the work of the GCF and its partners, showing how our resources are already transforming lives and driving a paradigm shift. With this solid track...
Achieving the Paris Agreement: How GCF raises climate ambition and empowers action
October 2019
The goal of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is to promote a paradigm shift in developing countries towards low-emission, climate-resilient development pathways. GCF supports the implementation and ambition cycle of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by mobilising the necessary resources and building and investment environment that can help developing countries identify, design and implement transformational climate interventions.
Raising ambition. Empowering action.
August 2019
The investment decisions we make now and over the next few years will determine the world we and our children will live in. The next decade is crucial in achieving the necessary transition towards a low-emissions, climate-resilient global economy that is the foundation for a safe planet. In only four years, GCF has allocated over USD 5 billion of the USD 7 billion received from contributors. As a result, its Board launched the first GCF replenishment in October 2018. An ambitious and...
SAP Technical Guidelines: Energy Efficiency for Industry and Appliances
August 2019
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.
SAP Technical Guidelines: Renewable Energy
August 2019
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...
Accelerating REDD+ implementation
June 2019
REDD+ is vital for global efforts to combat climate change. The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015 and entering into force in 2020, treats forests as an integral part of the climate solution, and highlights REDD+ as key intervention to achieve the new ambitious global target. The UNFCCC specifically recognized the GCF as a key funding avenue for channeling REDD+ RBPs.1 The GCF began offering such payments in 2017, and funding activities that are necessary to achieve REDD+ results since it...
SAP Technical Guidelines: Forests and Land Use
June 2019
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: Cities and Climate Change
June 2019
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: Transport
May 2019
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.
SAP Technical Guidelines: Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services
May 2019
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 are thematic areas specifically addressing water security, agriculture and food...
Turning ambition into action: How GCF catalyses transformational change
May 2019
GCF is the world’s largest dedicated fund helping developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and enhance their ability to respond to climate change. It was set up by the UNFCCC in 2010, and has a crucial role in serving the Paris Agreement, supporting the goal of keeping average global temperature rise well below 2C. It does this by channelling climate finance to developing countries, which have joined other nations in committing to climate action. This publication provides a...
Adaptation: Accelerating action towards a climate resilient future
April 2019
This working paper contributes to adaptation knowledge from the perspective of climate financing. It provides an overview of adaptation and resilience challenges, the distinction between them, and discusses the avenues that GCF is developing to tackle them, together with countries and many stakeholders including the private sector. Ultimately, it is hoped that this paper will inform the design and scaling up of more successful adaptation investments. Through focused investments in these...
GCF in Brief: Enhancing Direct Access
March 2019
The Enhancing Direct Access (EDA) pilot has been designed to provide Direct Access Entities (DAEs) with opportunities to move beyond the financing of individual projects towards a more comprehensive and stakeholder-driven programmatic approach. This factsheet provides an overview of the EDA pilot.
GCF in Brief: Support for Technology
December 2018
Technology solutions and innovations are instrumental to facilitate the move towards low-emission and climate- resilient pathways. Climate technologies can cover sectors such as energy supply and distribution, industry, transport, waste and agriculture. GCF supports developing countries in mitigation and adaptation actions as well as in capacity-building and technology development and transfer.
GCF in Brief: REDD+
May 2018
REDD+ is a financing model negotiated under the UNFCCC to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries. It is divided into three phases, which are roughly associated with readiness, implementation, and payment for results. This factsheet provides an overview of how GCF offers support for REDD+ across all three phases.