A new milestone in the Green Climate Fund’s history took place last month in Songdo, South Korea. This 7th meeting of the Board (GCF7) successfully concluded the 8 essential items required to trigger the resource mobilisation process. The process for deciding on how resources are to be mobilised – who contributes, when and how – was also launched with the first meeting scheduled for 30th June in Oslo.
Expectations ahead of the meeting were high. As the previous meeting in February had only managed to agree on 2 of the essential requirements the Board faced a sizeable task of finalising the remaining 6 along with a decision on the resource mobilisation process itself.
Failure to reach these agreements would have called into question the ability of the GCF to become operational in early 2015 and start channelling finance to deliver the paradigm shift for low carbon and climate resilient development in developing countries. It was also the common view that pledges to the GCF this year would be important for building momentum towards Paris 2015.
But before getting carried away by the size of the pot, in the briefing attached we unpack what was actually agreed in Songdo, identify pending decisions for October and consider whether or not we are on the right track.
