The road to Green Climate Fund financing

The range of climate financing options spans levels of engagement from the global to the local and includes all manner of approaches from the general to the specific. Public and private sources work separately and together, and encourage innovation, experimentation and variations on established practice tailored to specific needs and conditions. The Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change established the Green Climate Fund to help developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and enhance their ability to respond to climate change. As the world’s largest dedicated fund for this purpose, the GCF supports the Paris Agreement goal of keeping the average global temperature increase well below 2°C by providing developing countries with climate finance. The Green Climate Fund recommends that applicants for funding begin by submitting a concept note — a document providing basic information about a project or programme — that the Fund uses to determine how the concept aligns with its objectives. As a formal matter, the concept note is submitted by an Accredited Entity, which is an institution the Fund accredits for developing proposals and for monitoring and reporting on project activities, or by a National Designated Authority (NDA), which is the main point of communication between a country and the Fund. The NDA also provides a no-objection letter. Prior to submitting a concept note, an applicant needs to have an idea for a project and knowledge of what GCF supports. Generally, the Fund supports mitigation efforts to reduce emissions related to transport, energy, forest and land use, and buildings, cities, industries and appliances. It also supports adaptation efforts to increase resilience related to health, food and water security; livelihoods; infrastructure and the built environment; and ecosystems. Detailed information on GCF project requirements is available at the Fund’s website � www.greenclimate.fund. Once the Fund At first glance, the international climate funding in Central Asia may seem modest compared to the climate impacts and the needs — $2.5 billion. Other global climate hotspots such as small island developing states, least developed countries and the booming economies of greater Asia are getting

more international attention and funding. endorses the concept note, the applicant prepares a full proposal.

GCF policies, procedures and guidelines inform the design of all projects, and applicants need to review the Fund’s results management framework; environmental and social safeguards; gender policy and action plan; stakeholder consultation and engagement principles; co-financing policy. Proposals should reflect the consideration of these design elements.

The proposal itself starts with a description of the climate context — the problem to be addressed, the demographic, economic and geographic characteristics of the area to be served and the project’s relationship to other climate-related efforts in the area. Next comes a statement that logically connects the project activities to the outcomes needed to satisfy the project’s long-term goals. This so-called theory of change considers the activities to be undertaken, the expected effects of the intervention, the barriers and the risks, and is then translated into a logical framework that captures the monitoring and evaluation requirements necessary to ensure the efficacy of each activity.

The proposal must demonstrate how the project aligns with the Fund’s investment criteria — how it contributes to the achievement of the Fund’s objectives; how it catalyses impacts beyond the project investment and brings transformative changes to the sector; how it meets the needs of the country and the targeted population; whether the country has the capacity to implement the project; and whether the project is economically