INSIDER: Four Ways the Green Climate Fund Can Strengthen Its Next Strategic Plan

This briefing by the World Resources Institute outlines four critical areas for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to address in its 2020-2023 Strategic Plan: aligning ambition with the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal, refining its approach to adaptation and loss and damage, maintaining programming quality amidst pressure for scale, and empowering developing country institutions through improved direct access.

• The GCF needs to align its ambition with the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal by focusing on highly ambitious projects and exploring metrics that capture transformational potential beyond direct emission reductions. The author suggests an 'ambition filter' for investment criteria to require a minimum threshold of ambition for mitigation projects to be eligible for funding.
• The GCF has exceeded its initial targets for adaptation funding, with 53% of funding allocated to adaptation and 69% of that going to Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and African countries between 2015 and 2019. The draft Strategic Plan proposes formalizing this higher level as the new goal.
• The GCF should clarify its approach to adaptation by moving away from the dichotomy between development and adaptation, emphasizing instead the causal links between activities and climate risks. Additionally, the Fund needs to establish a formal approach to loss and damage, which is currently absent from the draft Strategic Plan despite a COP25 invitation.
• There is a risk that the GCF's focus on scale and speed may compromise portfolio quality. Specifically, the draft plan's indicative target of $7 of private finance leveraged for every $1 of GCF funding may create perverse incentives to invest in low-risk activities rather than high-risk, high-impact projects where concessional resources are most needed.
• If the GCF expands into complex financing modalities such as underwriting securities or venture-style incubators, it will require significant upgrades in staff capacity and expertise to manage the associated financial risks.
• Direct access for developing country institutions is hindered by difficult project approval processes; only 18 of 56 accredited Direct Access Entities (DAEs) have had projects approved. Furthermore, readiness and project preparation funding is often cumbersome, with some applicants waiting 3-4 months for $50,000 grants.
• The GCF's country programs have been found by its independent evaluation unit to have not yet delivered on their aims, partly because they are often too broad and high-level to provide meaningful guidance to national authorities.

APA

World Resources Institute (2020). INSIDER: Four Ways the Green Climate Fund Can Strengthen Its Next Strategic Plan. https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/insider-four-ways-green-climate-fund-can-strengthen-its-next-strategic-plan

Chicago

World Resources Institute. INSIDER: Four Ways the Green Climate Fund Can Strengthen Its Next Strategic Plan. 2020. https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/insider-four-ways-green-climate-fund-can-strengthen-its-next-strategic-plan.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=INSIDER: Four Ways the Green Climate Fund Can Strengthen Its Next Strategic Plan |date=3 February 2020 |url=https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/insider-four-ways-green-climate-fund-can-strengthen-its-next-strategic-plan |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2020insider, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{INSIDER: Four Ways the Green Climate Fund Can Strengthen Its Next Strategic Plan}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2020}, month = feb, url = {https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/insider-four-ways-green-climate-fund-can-strengthen-its-next-strategic-plan}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }