The Challenge
At the December 2010 international climate talks in Cancún, the negotiators agreed to create a Green Climate Fund. The Cancún decision called for this fund to be established as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), accountable to and functioning under the guidance of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC. It would have thematic windows, with a significant share of new multilateral funding for adaptation expected to flow through it. The fund would be governed by a board of 24 members, with equal representation from developing and developed countries. An independent secretariat would support the fund’s operations, with the World Bank invited to be the trustee to manage the fund’s financial assets, subject to review in three years.
A Transitional Committee made up of representatives from 25 developing and 15 developed countries was commissioned to design the Green Climate Fund. It was asked to submit its recommendations for approval at COP 17 in Durban, in December 2011.
