Scroll down for French and Spanish The Green Climate Fund is moving closer to financing its first projects and programs. If things are done the right way it could contribute effectively to global efforts to counter climate change, but first transparency in the decision making process needs to be guaranteed. In July, the tenth meeting …
6-9 July 2015, Songdo, Korea Summary 6-9 July 2015, the 10th meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board was held in Songdo, Korea. 36 Board and Alternate Board members gathered along with a number of observers to discuss 32 agenda items. The meeting was the last one before the first concrete funding proposals will …
Read more “Report on 10th Meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board”
At the 9th Board meeting of the GCF (Green Climate Fund) in South Korea, the Board completed the final step in opening the door to the Fund. First seven implementing entities were accredited – a process led by political rush to approve first funding proposals by October and marked by criticism from civil society on the lack of transparency in the process.
At the 9th Board meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which concluded last week in South Korea, seven entities were approved to pass through funding proposals by mid-year. However, the decision was criticised over the lack of transparency and stakeholder input in the process. The Board also adopted rules to screen project proposals but failed to exclude funding for fossil fuels. Expectations are now on countries to sign off the remaining US$4.5 billion for the fund that has been pledged in November 2014 ahead of the 30 April deadline.
The future role of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the 2015 climate treaty is likely to be very limited. CDM advocates have therefore started to look beyond traditional funds for offsets and are now eyeing at climate finance. However, the CDM in its current state does not provide environmental and social standards needed for climate action.
With a large baggage of stranded carbon credits with no buyers in sight, the CDM has started to flirt with the idea of accessing climate finance through the Green Climate Fund to pay for emission reductions delivered by CDM projects without using the offset credits. However, the criteria of the adopted GCF accreditation framework suggest that the CDM in its current form seems out of the climate finance game.
Success at the upcoming COP20 in Lima to establish the groundwork for a future climate treaty will largely depend on the willingness of rich nations to live up to their promises of delivering climate finance. With tangible commitments on climate action only expected throughout 2015, the challenge in Lima will be to establish necessary rules without having certainty of the level of ambition countries are prepared to make.
A new chance to address the shortcomings of the CDM to implement robust public participation rules was born last year at the climate change conference in Warsaw where Parties requested the UNFCCC secretariat to collect information on practices for local stakeholder consultation and providetechnical assistance for the development of guidelines upon the request of countries. In June, at a recent Africa Regional Workshop in Windhoek Namibia, Designated National Authorities (DNAs) discussed how improvements to the role of local stakeholder consultations could be made and how to sustainable development impacts of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects can be monitored. Carbon Market Watch participated at this two day capacity building workshop and highlighted that best practice guidance on how to implement existing rules is still needed.
More than 150 environmental and social justice organizations have urged the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to adopt an “exclusion list” as part of its policies to ensure that environmental, social, gender and financial safeguards and protection – are taken up as a practice by several international development and financial institutions. In the run-up to the last GCF Board meeting that took place in Songdo, Republic of Korea, on the 18-21 May, the call for a GCF exclusion list got wider and louder.
Stay in touch and receive our monthly newsletter, campaign updates, event invites and more.
