Home Climate Finance Green Climate Fund (GCF) - Readiness Programme
Green Climate Fund (GCF) - Readiness Programme
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Readiness Program provides resources for strengthening the institutional capacities of National Designated Authorities (NDAs) or focal points and Direct Access Entities to efficiently engage with the Fund. Resources may be provided in the form of grants up to USD 1 million per country per year or technical assistance.
The Readiness Program is a component of the larger GCF, which was set up in 2010 and aims to promote the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change, taking into account the needs of those developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. The GCF is an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism of the UNFCCC and of the Financial Mechanism of the Paris Agreement.
Purpose of support
Scoping and project preparation
Creating enabling environments and building institutional capacity
Eligible countries and regions
Developing country Parties to the UNFCCC. The Fund aims for a floor of 50 percent of the readiness support allocation to particularly vulnerable countries, including Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and African States.
Funding support can be used to:
Formulate adaptation plans
Strengthen institutional capacity of NDAs/Focal Points
Enhance the ability of an entity to seek accreditation with the Fund, including for the fast-track accreditation process (pre-accreditation support)
Develop strategic frameworks and country programmes that set out national priorities and project pipelines.
More information can be found here. Review criteria for adaptation planning oriented Readiness proposals are detailed in the GCF Readiness Guidebook.
Grants, In-kind contributions
Decision-making information
The Green Climate Fund is an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism of the UNFCCC Convention and the Paris Agreement. It is accountable to and functions under the guidance of the COP. In order to ensure accountability to the COP, pursuant to Article 11, paragraph 3, the Board will: (a) Receive guidance from the COP, including on matters related to policies, programme priorities and eligibility criteria, and matters related thereto;(b) Take appropriate action in response to the guidance received; (c) Submit annual reports to the COP for its consideration and receive further guidance.
The Green Climate Fund is governed by a Board of 24 members representing developed and developing countries equally. Each Board member has an alternate member.
Representation from developing countries includes:
three members and three alternate members from the Asia-Pacific States;
three members and three alternate members from the African States;
three members and three alternate members from the Latin American and the Caribbean States;
one member and one alternate member from the small island developing States (SIDS);
one member and one alternate member from the least developed country Parties (LDCs);
one member from the developing country Parties not included in the regional groups and constituencies above; and
one alternate member to rotate between developing country Parties included in the groups and constituencies listed above.
The members and alternate members of the Board are selected by their respective constituency, or regional group within a constituency, to serve a three-year term. The Board usually meets three times a year, and decisions are made by consensus. The GCF has a gender and social inclusion policy within their operational framework.
Accreditation Panel: it provides independent advice to the GCF Board about individual applications for accreditation, as well as on development and operationalization of the guiding framework of the Fund's accreditation process. It is made up of six senior experts, evenly balanced by representation from developed and developing countries, and is supported by a pool of external technical experts. Members of the Accreditation Panel serve for three years. Accreditation Panel members provide specialized knowledge on a range of issues feeding into accreditation decisions, including good practice in fiduciary principles and standards, environmental and social safeguards, gender-related issues, and recognized good practice in accreditation procedures.
Independent Technical Advisory Panel (ITAP): it assesses the funding proposals against the six GCF investment criteria. ITAP is an independent technical advisory body made up of six international experts: three from developing countries and three from developed countries.
The Secretariat: is responsible for executing the day-to-day operations of the Fund. It services and is accountable to the Board. The GCF Secretariat is headquartered in Songdo, Republic of Korea.
National Designated Authorities (NDAs) or Focal Points (FP): are the core interface between a country and the Fund. It seeks to ensure that activities supported by the Fund align with strategic national objectives and priorities, and help advance ambitious action on adaptation and mitigation in line with national needs. Find the list here.
Accredited Entities: The Fund will channel its resources through a network of public, private and non-governmental institutions operating at sub-national, national, regional and international levels that meet the Fund's standards. These institutions need to be aligned with the Fund's objectives and meet its fiduciary standards and environmental and social safeguards through a process of accreditation. A key role of NDAs/FPs is to identify suitable entities to be accredited to the Fund in order to support the country climate-related projects portfolio. NDAs/FPs provide letters of nomination to direct access entities. (more information in the section "Steps to access").
Trustee: The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) invited the World Bank to serve as interim trustee of the Green Climate Fund for a multi-year, renewable period of time. Its functions in this capacity include the receipt, holding and investment of financial contributions from contributors, transfer of financial resources pursuant to instruction by GCF, and preparation of summary financial reports. The GCF's permanent trustee will be chosen through an open bidding process.
Monitoring and reporting procedures
The proposal will specify project monitoring arrangements which should include local monitoring. Each grant usually requires one interim progress report, one unaudited financial statement, one completion report, and one audited financial statement. However, the detailed requirements of each grant depend on the financial management capacity assessment results of the delivery partner. All approved proposals and signed grant agreements are open to the public on the GCF website (Online library). The Secretariat is discussing ways to disclose other documents received through this support.
Information on how to...
Understand the steps to access
Know what activities are eligible for readiness support
Become an accredited entity
Develop a readiness proposal
INFORMATION ON HOW TO…
1Understand the steps to access
All readiness funding requests must be initiated by a developing country NDA or focal point. This is the case whether the support will directly benefit the developing country NDA, or if it is to support a Direct Access Entity. The funding itself can be managed by different bodies depending on the type of support requested. These may be the NDA itself, or by a delivery partner. The delivery partner may be a direct access accredited entity, a Direct Access Entity that aims to become accredited to the Fund, or another body. A completed readiness template and readiness budget and procurement plan should be submitted to the GCF Secretariat by the NDA. It can be submitted by email to countries@gcfund.org.
Readiness templates and budget and procurement planning documents can be found here.
2Know what activities are eligible for readiness support
The nominated NDA, Focal Point and/or Direct Access Entities must identify and prioritize activities based on the GCF's eligibility criteria for this funding envelop.
Find an overview of activities eligible for GCF Readiness support here.
3Become an accredited entity
Organizations seen to have specialized capacities in driving climate action may apply to become GCF Accredited Entities. They can be private, public, non-governmental, sub-national, national, regional or international bodies.
Find out more about the accreditation process and how to become an accredited entity here.
4Develop a readiness proposal
National Designated Authorities, focal points, and direct access entities can access resources to help build their capacity to access climate finance.
Find an overview of GCF Readiness Programme here, and the steps for developing a readiness proposal here.
Climate objective
Adaptation, Mitigation, Cross-cutting
Agriculture, Ecosystem adaptation, Energy efficiency, Forestry and Land-Use, Industry and Infrastructure, Renewable Energy, Rural, Transportation, Urban, Waste management, Oceans and Coastal Resources, Disaster risk reduction, Health, Gender, Jobs and Livelihoods, Poverty, Water
Type of support provider
Type of recipient
Public entity at the national level, Public entity at the sub-national level, Public entity at the regional level, Private sector, Non-profit or civil society organization, Community-level organization, International organization, Other
Readiness Program cumulative pledged funding: USD 10.3 billion (as of December 2018). Initial resource mobilization period lasts from 2015 to 2018. In February 2019, the GCF adopted a budget of USD 122.5 million for a new phase of readiness support to developing countries. The Readiness Programme was initially set up with USD 15 million.
Co-financing required
Application timeframe
For adaptation planning oriented proposals, proposals can be submitted at any time.
Future tentative deadlines are expected to be discussed at the next Board meeting (B.25) on 10 March 2020.
Trustee or administrator
https://www.greenclimate.fund
info@gcfund.org