In Brief: Green Climate Fund sets sights on US financial reengagement

The Green Climate Fund has already had “working-level communication” with President Joe Biden’s administration, amid hopes for new financial commitments after the previous U.S. administration withdrew funding, Executive Director Yannick Glemarec told Devex. “We understand that we should be able to get — very soon — a communication at the political and policy levels,” Glemarec said, adding that U.S. funding for GCF could prove “dramatic” for the outcomes of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP 26, later this year. <iframe src="https://www.linkedin.com/video/embed/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6768303802761146369" height="284" width="504" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="Embedded post"></iframe> The backstory: GCF raised $9.3 billion at its first pledging conference in 2014, which included $3 billion from then-President Barack Obama’s administration — but only a third of that had been delivered by the time Donald Trump took over the presidency, and he refused to release the rest of the funds. The United States did not contribute to GCF’s 2019 replenishment. John Kerry, Biden’s climate envoy, recently said the U.S. would now “make good” on its international climate finance pledge, but it is not clear exactly what this means for GCF. Climate campaigners have called for the administration to provide $8 billion to the fund. Glemarec declined to talk numbers but said, “We hope that they will indeed be able to reengage financially.” Why it matters: Glemarec said that GCF has tried to speed up project approvals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and that lower-income countries had submitted around $22 billion worth of projects. At its current rate, GCF could deliver $12 billion in project financing over the 2020-2023 period, he said. However, it currently only has about $9 billion to work with. “If we were to get $3 billion more, we would be able to maintain our current speed. If we were to get ... a higher replenishment, we will be able to increase it ... which will be dramatic for COP 26,” Glemarec said.