Washington, D.C. — The Green Climate Fund, or GCF, is an important new multilateral tool for investing in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries and help them adapt to a changing climate. More than 30 countries, including the United States, have now pledged more than $10 billion over the next few years, which will provide some of the resources the GCF needs to advance its goal of spurring low-carbon and climate-resilient growth.
With the board of the Green Climate Fund meeting tomorrow for the first time this year, the Center for American Progress has released an issue brief outlining the steps necessary for the fund to be successful in 2015. Countries need to follow through with their promised support, and the GCF should start showcasing its capacity to serve as an essential tool for the mobilization and delivery of climate finance in the years to come.
“After 2014 closed with a flurry of pledges to the Green Climate Fund by the United States and more than 30 other countries, 2015 is the year for countries to start delivering on those pledges and for the Green Climate Fund to start to realize its potential,” said Pete Ogden, Senior Fellow at CAP and co-author of the brief. “Both are possible in time for the Paris climate conference in December.”
The issue brief recommends—among other things—the types of projects in which the GCF should invest during its inaugural year. An aim of those projects should be to demonstrate that decoupling development from rising emissions at scale is possible. The brief’s recommendations include:
- Investing in a mitigation project in a developing region that does not result in an isolated improvement but instead instigates a step change toward a clean economy. A singular strategy of the GCF is to identify the critical funding gaps that may be relatively small but that will have a ripple effect when filled.
- Investing in adaptation in a low-income region that is particularly vulnerable to climate impacts. Again, the project should not be an isolated improvement but a catalyst for a shift in the region’s level of resilience.
- Attracting significant private-sector investment, which is necessary to show that the level of funding needed to implement similar projects on a global scale can be mobilized.
Click here to read the issue brief.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Tom Caiazza at [email protected] or 202.481.7141.
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