GCF seeks more contributions before Paris talks

OREANDA-NEWS. November 23, 2015. The remaining 10 countries that have pledged money to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) should convert their pledges into contributions before UN climate talks in Paris at the end of this year, GCF executive director Hela Cheikhrouhou said today.

Of the 34 countries that have pledged money to the fund, 24 have made contributions, bring the total contributed to just under \\$5.5bn, just under half of the \\$10.2bn pledged.

Progress had been fast but could be even faster, Cheikhrouhou said. "It will be an important trust-building signal at Cop 21 [in Paris] to have all pledging countries signed up to contribution agreements by then," she said.

Converting pledges to contributions usually takes between eight and 12 months. The US is by far the largest pledger not yet to have contributed yet, with its \\$3bn pledge awaiting approval.

And Cheikhrouhou emphasised that the GCF remains open to new contributions, and called upon more countries to pledge if they could.

It is vital that any Paris climate deal contains a commitment to ensure that funding for the GCF continues to grow annually at levels significantly beyond its initial resources.

Developed countries have already committed to reaching at least \\$100bn/yr by 2020, a goal that was recently re-iterated by G7 leaders.

Nearly 100 institutions are working towards becoming accredited entities to deploy GCF finance, and the GCF has so far received 120 project proposals.

"Of these, there is around \\$500mn worth of GCF funding to projects and programmes that look promising," Cheikhrouhou said.