Green Climate Fund Proposal Toolkit 2017

The Green Climate Fund Proposal Toolkit 2017 serves as a comprehensive manual for creating funding proposals for the GCF. It details the roles of National Designated Authorities (NDAs), Accredited Entities (AEs), and Executing Entities (EEs), while outlining a ten-step approach to project design. Key requirements include alignment with the GCF's Results Management Framework (RMF), adherence to International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards for environmental and social safeguards, and the integration of gender-sensitive objectives through a Gender Action Plan (GAP). The document also explains the GCF's six investment criteria—impact potential, paradigm shift potential, sustainable development potential, recipient needs, country ownership, and efficiency and effectiveness—and provides guidance on selecting financial instruments such as grants, concessional loans, equity, and guarantees.

• The GCF utilizes a specific project cycle consisting of seven main stages: voluntary concept note submission, proposal submission with a no-objection letter from the NDA, analysis and recommendation by the GCF and Independent Technical Advisory Panel (ITAP), Board decision, legal arrangements (Funded Activity Agreement), disbursement and implementation, and finally monitoring, evaluation, and reporting.
• Project proponents must align proposals with six core investment criteria: impact potential, paradigm shift potential, sustainable development potential, needs of the recipient, country ownership, and efficiency and effectiveness.
• The GCF's Results Management Framework (RMF) employs a 'backcasting' planning process, which starts with the desired future paradigm shift and works backward to identify necessary objectives, outcomes, outputs, activities, and inputs.
• Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) are based on the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) eight Performance Standards (PS1-PS8). Projects are categorized by risk level: Category A (high), Category B (medium), and Category C (low/no risk).
• Gender integration is a mandatory requirement, necessitating a gender assessment and a Gender Action Plan (GAP) that includes gender-responsive objectives and qualitative and quantitative gender indicators.
• The GCF provides four primary financial instruments to support projects: grants (both reimbursable and non-reimbursable), concessional loans (senior and subordinate), equity, and guarantees.
• The Project Preparation Facility (PPF) offers financial support, capped at 10% of total funding requested or a maximum of US$1.5 million, to help Accredited Entities turn concept notes into full funding proposals.
• To demonstrate 'paradigm shift potential,' proposals must provide evidence of the project's ability to catalyze impact beyond a one-off investment through scaling-up, replication, knowledge and learning, the creation of an enabling environment, and contributions to regulatory frameworks.
• The GCF follows a 'least concessional' approach, meaning it provides the minimum amount of concessional funding necessary to make a project viable to avoid crowding out other available finance sources.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2017). Green Climate Fund Proposal Toolkit 2017. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/GCF-project-development-manual.pdf

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. Green Climate Fund Proposal Toolkit 2017. 2017. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/GCF-project-development-manual.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=Green Climate Fund Proposal Toolkit 2017 |date=June 2017 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/GCF-project-development-manual.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2017green, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{Green Climate Fund Proposal Toolkit 2017}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2017}, month = jun, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/GCF-project-development-manual.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }