How to access the Green Climate Fund in 5 steps

0. Preliminary steps: The Designated National Authority and Accredited Entities.

A country seeking to work with the GCF must establish a Designated National Authority (DNA) or Focal Point, which will facilitate communication and engagement with the GCF.

It can then either apply for accreditation of entities to access financial resources and implement projects or contact a regional or international Accredited Entity to propose the project. Accredited Entities (AEs) work with countries to develop project and programme ideas and submit funding proposals for approval by the GCF Board. They can be public or private; non-governmental organisations; sub-national, national, regional, or international.

1. Submitting a concept note

A concept note provides basic information about a project or programme. This procedure allows for feedback from the GCF Secretariat on the alignment of the project or programme with the objectives and mandate of the GCF. It should fall under one of the eight result areas (mitigation, adaptation, or both):

Mitigation: emission reductions in

• Agriculture, forestry and other land uses

• Buildings, cities and industry

• Energy

• Transport

Adaptation: increasing resilience in

• Ecosystems and ecosystem services

• Health, food and water security

• Infrastructure

• Livelihoods of vulnerable communities

*The GCF feedback does not represent a commitment to provide financial resources for the project. *

2. Submission of a funding proposal

AEs routinely submit funding proposals for approval by the Fund.

Non-accredited entities must partner with AEs to formally submit their proposals to the GCF. Proposals must be subject to a national prioritisation process; they must include technical specifications and accompanying documentation; financial structure of the project; an impact assessment and evidence of consultation to ensure that it meets the standards of the GCF. A letter of no objection signed by the DNA of the beneficiary country must also be attached.

3. Assessment by the GCF Secretariat and the Independent Technical Advisory Panel (ITAP)

Once submitted to the GCF, proposals undergo a detailed review process. The Secretariat will assess how the proposal conforms to the investment criteria and the Fund’s policies and standards. It will then pass its assessment and the proposal documentation to ITAP, which will evaluate the proposal against the investment criteria. It may also add recommendations to the proposal, and request AEs to provide clarifications.

4. GCF Board decision

The GCF Board, which usually meets three times a year, considers the proposal and the studies submitted, and may take one of the following decisions

a) Approve the funding

b) Approve the funding conditional on certain modifications to the proposal.

c) Reject the funding proposal.

5. Legal Agreements

Following Board approval of a funding proposal, the Secretariat will negotiate with the EA to sign a Funded Activity Agreement. This lays the groundwork for the implementation phase of the project or programme.

Templates for the documents to be submitted, as well as a list of existing Accredited Entities and other relevant information for accessing their resources can be found on the GCF website.