GREEN CLIMATE FUND PRESS RELEASE

First Pledging Conference of Green Climate Fund Yields Unprecedented US$ 9.3 billion              

Governments unite behind Fund to leverage private investment flows, provide climate finance at scale

(Berlin, 20 November 2014) – The Green Climate Fund concluded its first Pledging Conference today in Berlin, Germany, with governments pledging a total of up to US$ 9.3 billion equivalent.

Pledges were made by 21 countries, including contributions from four developing countries. Their combined contributions provide for the largest amount the international community has ever mobilized for a dedicated climate finance mechanism within a timeframe of less than five months.

“The result of today’s capitalization of the Green Climate Fund is foremost an unmistaken sign of trust-building,” said Hela Cheikhrouhou, Executive Director of the Fund.

Resources allocated to the Green Climate Fund will serve as a multiplier to unlock finance flows from the private sector. Private investment flows are essential for the transition to a low-emission, climate-resilient future. These investments can be stimulated through application of concessional public financing from the Fund.

“The Green Climate Fund is the epicentre that determines the direction of both public and private investment over the next decades,” said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), describing the capitalization of the Fund as one of the wisest investments in the 21st century.

The initial capitalization of the Fund is critical to the intergovernmental negotiations on climate change. “This creates a positive atmosphere for the start of successful negotiations in Lima in less than two weeks,” stated H.E. Mr. Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Minister of the Environment of Peru and President-Designate of COP 20. “We are fully confident on GCF’s ability to start disbursing funds next year and encourage more countries to come forward with contributions and for contributing countries to further raise their ambition.”

The resource mobilization effort of the Green Climate Fund will last beyond today’s Pledging Conference. Governments that have not yet contributed to the Fund are encouraged to continue pledging. “We must give other contributors the chance to surprise us,” remarked Mr. Henrik Harboe, newly elected Co-Chair of the GCF Board and Deputy Director of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The GCF Board now has the critical role of translating these pledges into financing decisions for climate projects and programmes in developing countries,” he added.  

The Berlin Pledge demonstrated that there is true progress in providing financial support to developing countries that are willing to shift to more climate resilient development pathways, and at the same time to lower their emissions. The Fund’s pledges constitute the largest resource mobilization for adaptation finance for vulnerable countries.

The GCF Board will likely start reviewing funding proposals in the second half of 2015.The Green Climate Fund was established to act as a central vehicle for climate finance under which industrialized countries would assist developing countries with new finance for public and private sector projects and programmes. It offers unlimited opportunities for deploying resilient and clean solutions that will foster economic growth and employment globally.

(Note - the GCF corrected the original figure in their press release to US$ 9.3 billion from 9.4 billion)

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