GCF's support for coral reefs

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) emphasizes the critical role of coral reefs in climate resilience and mitigation, noting that 1.5°C of warming could cause a 70-90% decline in reefs. The GCF highlights the 'widening financing gap' for these ecosystems and supports the Global Fund for Coral Reefs' goal of using blended finance to catalyze private investment for vulnerable countries, including SIDS and LDCs. The GCF cites its Blue Action Fund project in the Western Indian Ocean as an example of its current investment in marine ecosystems.

• Coral reefs are highly vulnerable to temperature increases, with projected declines of 70 to 90 percent at 1.5 degrees C of warming, and the potential to become nonexistent at 2 degrees C. This degradation threatens the security and livelihoods of over one billion people.
• Coral reefs and associated ecosystems like mangroves and sea grasses provide essential climate adaptation by breaking up to 97% of wave energy and contribute to mitigation by sequestering more carbon per unit area than terrestrial forests.
• There is a widening financing gap for the protection and restoration of coral reefs because conservation and climate financing are not keeping pace with losses caused by ocean acidification and warming.
• The Global Fund for Coral Reefs intends to use blended finance—including grants, guarantees, concessional loans, and equity—to attract private investment for the blue economy and conservation in vulnerable countries, specifically SIDS and LDCs, which have seen little benefit from previous blended finance efforts.
• The GCF is increasing its investment in marine ecosystems, exemplified by the Blue Action Fund project in the Western Indian Ocean, which provides 34.1 million dollars in grant financing for conservation projects across four countries.

APA

Green Climate Fund (2020). GCF's support for coral reefs. https://www.greenclimate.fund/about/news-and-updates/gcfs-support-coral-reefs

Chicago

Green Climate Fund. GCF's support for coral reefs. 2020. https://www.greenclimate.fund/about/news-and-updates/gcfs-support-coral-reefs.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Green Climate Fund |title=GCF's support for coral reefs |date=16 September 2020 |url=https://www.greenclimate.fund/about/news-and-updates/gcfs-support-coral-reefs |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{greenclimatefund2020gcfs, author = {{Green Climate Fund}}, title = {{GCF's support for coral reefs}}, publisher = {Green Climate Fund}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://www.greenclimate.fund/about/news-and-updates/gcfs-support-coral-reefs}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }