Eight newly approved GCF projects set for implementation

Eight project agreements were signed on the margins of the Green Climate Fund’s 40th Board meeting (B.40), which took place on 21-24 October 2024 in Incheon, Republic of Korea.

At the last Board meeting of the year, B.40, USD 1 billion in GCF funding for 16 projects was approved. GCF’s portfolio now comprises 286 projects across 133 countries, with a total GCF investment of USD 16 billion and an overall total of USD 61.5 billion with co-financing.

Before a project can launch, the project agreement or Funded Activity Agreement (FAA) must be negotiated and signed by GCF and the AE. The FAA contains a set of conditions to be fulfilled by the AE, which can be a lengthy process. As part of GCF’s agenda to increase its efficiency and impact,  the Fund has been making efforts to speed up processes to deliver projects to communities more quickly.

Among the 16 projects, agreements for eight were immediately signed between GCF and its Accredited Entity partners at a signing ceremony on 24 October, one day after Board approval.

These include a project in Burundi, the first to be developed under the Project-Specific Assessment Approach (PSAA), and GCF’s first single-country projects in Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Somalia. Projects in Ethiopia and Rwanda continue to strengthen GCF’s programming in these countries, while a climate health project in Malawi and a climate resilience multi-country programme in West Africa extend the reach of GCF programming to vulnerable populations.

Notably, the projects in Burundi and Somalia moved from Board approval to project signing to first disbursement in one day, marking another record for GCF for rapid implementation this year. Projects in Bhutan, Malawi and the Cook Islands were rapidly turned around, ranging from a day for Bhutan, seven days for Malawi and 20 days for the Cook Islands, from Board approval to project signing to disbursement.