The new chief of the world’s biggest climate fund watered down her speech at the United Nations headquarters to remove comments calling the organization “outdated” and omit an apology over the state of the fund, just hours before its delivery Wednesday.
In the original draft, which the organization sent to Devex in advance, Green Climate Fund Executive Director Mafalda Duarte laid out detailed plans for reform. A GCF spokesman promoted it as a “vision setting speech.” But Duarte significantly altered those remarks during her address at the U.N. Climate Ambition Summit in New York, instead heaping praise on the fund’s work to date.
Prepared remarks briefed to journalists tend to deviate very little upon delivery, so Duarte’s case was unusual.
About the author
William Worley@willrworley
Will Worley is the Climate Correspondent for Devex, covering the intersection of development and climate change. He previously worked as UK Correspondent, reporting on the FCDO and British aid policy during a time of seismic reforms. Will’s extensive reporting on the UK aid cuts saw him shortlisted for ‘Specialist Journalist of the Year’ in 2021 by the British Journalism Awards. He can be reached at william.worley@devex.com.