Gender Mandates in Climate Policy

The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol,

Recalling decisions 1/CMP.3, 1/CMP.4, 2/CMP.10, 1/CMP.11, 2/CMP.12, 1/CMP.13, 1/CMP.14 and 3/CMP.15,

Also recalling decision 13/CMA.1,

1. Takes note of the annual reports of the Adaptation Fund Board for 2020 and 2021 and the information contained therein;

2. Notes the following information, actions and decisions relating to the Adaptation Fund Board presented in the reports referred to in paragraph 1 above:

(a) A request for the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol and/or the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement to provide guidance and/or clarification on how to address requests for funding from Parties that are either a Party to the Kyoto Protocol or a Party to the Paris Agreement but not a Party to both;

(b) The updated response of the Adaptation Fund Board3 to the guidance of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol pertaining to the third review of the Adaptation Fund;

(c) The accreditation of 4 national implementing entities, 2 multilateral implementing entities and 1 regional implementing entity (with the national implementing entities granted direct access to resources from the Adaptation Fund), resulting in a total number of accredited implementing entities of 33 national (of which 9 in the least developed countries and 7 in small island developing States), 14 multilateral and 7 regional implementing entities, of which 31 were reaccredited (16 national implementing entities, 4 regional implementing entities and 11 multilateral implementing entities) for accessing resources from the Adaptation Fund directly;

(d) Cumulative project and programme approvals increasing by around 32 per cent to USD 744.58 million between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020 and by 12 per cent to USD 831.49 million between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021, despite the challenging circumstances related to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic;

(e) Resources available for new funding approvals amounting to USD 167.20 million as at 30 June 2020 and USD 195.69 million as at 30 June 2021;

(f) New funding approvals, including for concrete single-country and regional (multi-country) proposals, grant proposals under the Medium-Term Strategy of the Adaptation Fund for 2018–2022 and readiness grants amounting to USD 180.5 million as at 30 June 2020 and USD 86.9 million as at 30 June 2021;

(g) An active pipeline of project and programme proposals submitted but not approved amounting to around USD 286 million as at 30 June 2020 and USD 279 million as at 30 June 2021, reflecting an upward trend from previous years;

(h) The cumulative receipts of USD 1,107.40 million, as at 30 June 2021, into the Adaptation Fund Trust Fund, comprising USD 208.38 million from the monetization of certified emission reductions, USD 858.82 million from contributions and USD 40.21 million from investment income earned on the Trust Fund balance;

(i) Contributions amounting to USD 200.89 million between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2021 from the Governments of Germany, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as the governments of the Brussels-Capital, Flemish and Walloon Regions of Belgium; new pledges amounting to USD 116 million from the Governments of Germany, Ireland, Italy and Sweden, as well as the governments of the Brussels-Capital and Walloon Regions of Belgium, towards the Adaptation Fund resource mobilization target of USD 120 million per year for the biennium 2020–2021; direct funding of EUR 10 million from the European Commission for a programme under the Adaptation Fund Innovation Facility; and the transfer of aggregated contributions from the United Nations Foundation, comprising various individual donations made between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020, prepared by the Adaptation Fund Board secretariat and the trustee;

(j) Outstanding pledges of USD 21.85 million as at 30 June 2020 and outstanding contributions of USD 36.27 million as at 30 June 2021;

(k) The approval of 29 single-country project or programme proposals submitted by implementing entities, totalling USD 174 million, of which 9 proposals submitted by national implementing entities, amounting to USD 14.5 million; 1 single-country proposal submitted by a regional implementing entity, amounting to USD 9.9 million; and 19 singlecountry proposals submitted by multilateral implementing entities, totalling USD 149.6 million;

(l) The recommendation of the Project and Programme Review Committee to approve nine regional (multi-country) projects amounting to USD 93.9 million, for which funding was not readily available for one project from the tentatively set-aside amount, and the resulting decision of the Adaptation Fund Board to place it on a waitlist, to be approved intersessionally subject to the availability of funds;

(m) The ongoing implementation of activities under the Medium-Term Strategy of the Adaptation Fund for 2018–2022, with the second, third, fourth and fifth review cycles for grant funding windows for innovation, learning and project scale-up and the approval by the Adaptation Fund Board of the first four small-grant proposals for innovation, the first grant proposal for project scale-up and two grant proposals for learning, totalling USD 1,348,322; and the launch of two new innovation aggregator programmes, totalling USD 10 million, that offer small grants for innovation to non-accredited entities via two accredited multilateral implementing entities;

(n) The facilitation of the 2nd meeting of the Committee of the Community of Practice for Direct Access Entities, held with the participation of the Green Climate Fund;

(o) New activities under the Medium-Term Strategy of the Adaptation Fund for 2018–2022, including the approval of large grants for innovation and a funding window for enhanced direct access; the endorsement of the principles of locally led adaptation action following engagement with the Global Commission; and the launch of the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator;

(p) The launch of a virtual learning course on unlocking adaptation finance and accessing the Adaptation Fund;

(q) The approval of funding decisions for readiness grants amounting to USD 234,820, consisting of South–South cooperation grants and technical assistance grants for the environmental and social safeguards policy and the gender policy; and a new readiness support package grant window following a successful pilot phase;

(r) The organization of virtual readiness events for accredited national implementing entities, including two webinars on project development, a global accreditation training workshop and a country exchange for South–South learning;

(s) Cumulative disbursements to the 121 projects approved since the operationalization of the Adaptation Fund amounting to USD 485.9 million, including USD 76.2 million disbursed between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021;

(t) The implementation of proactive measures to support Parties and implementing entities in mitigating the effects of the pandemic and minimizing any related disruption, and to mitigate the impact on the portfolio of the Adaptation Fund;

(u) The issuance of targeted communication and messaging on themes such as the unique value of the pioneering scalable work of the Adaptation Fund, the implementation of the Medium-Term Strategy of the Adaptation Fund for 2018–2022, the response of the Adaptation Fund to the pandemic and the value of the Adaptation Fund in building broader resilience;

(v) The promotion of linkages of the Adaptation Fund with other bodies under the Convention, such as the Adaptation Committee, the Climate Technology Centre and Network, the Global Environment Facility, the Green Climate Fund, the Paris Committee on Capacity-building and the Standing Committee on Finance – the Adaptation Fund Board held discussions on linkages between the Adaptation Fund and the Green Climate Fund, including through a framework for promoting the scaling up of funded projects and the Community of Practice for Direct Access Entities;

(w) Policy decisions regarding project approval and implementation, including to streamline the project and programme review process, to update the policy for project and programme delays and to make readiness grants available throughout the year by including an additional review cycle;

(x) The approval of the updated Adaptation Fund gender policy and action plan and application of the updated Adaptation Fund project performance report template by implementing entities to track progress more systematically;

[...]

The Conference of the Parties,

Recalling decision 3/CP.17, annex,

1. Welcomes the reports of the Green Climate Fund to the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-sixth session, including the list of actions taken by the Board of the Green Climate Fund (hereinafter referred to as the Board) in response to guidance received from the Conference of the Parties;

2. Also welcomes the continued efforts of the Green Climate Fund to make a significant and ambitious contribution to the global effort to meet the goals set by the international community in relation to combating climate change;

3. Further welcomes the progress of the Green Climate Fund in 2020–2021, including in relation to guidance provided by the Conference of the Parties:

(a) The increase in the number of funding proposals approved, which brings the total amount approved by the Board to USD 10 billion to support implementation of 190 adaptation and mitigation projects and programmes in 127 developing countries;

(b) The increase in the number of entities accredited by the Board, which brings the total number of accredited entities to 112, of which 72 are direct access entities;

(c) The approval of its Updated Strategic Plan for 2020–2023, Integrated Results Management Framework and a results tracking tool;

(d) The revision of its environmental and social policy to reaffirm its commitment to preventing sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and sexual harassment; administrative remedies and exclusions policy; and guidelines to facilitate consideration by the Board of Independent Redress Mechanism reports on requests for reconsideration, grievances and complaints;

(e) The approval of its evaluation policy;

(f) The continued collaboration between the Green Climate Fund, the Climate Technology Centre and Network and the Technology Executive Committee;

(g) The collaboration between the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Committee and the Least Developed Countries Expert Group;

4. Welcomes the long-term vision on complementarity, coherence and collaboration between the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility and requests the Board to enhance coherence and complementarity with other climate finance delivery channels with a view to enhancing the impact and effectiveness of its work;

5. Encourages further collaboration and engagement between the Green Climate Fund, the Climate Technology Centre and Network and the Technology Executive Committee, through continued joint work, as well as collaboration on events, and taking into consideration elements related to gender mainstreaming and observer engagement;

6. Reiterates the request to the Board to continue efforts to maintain the balance in the allocation of resources between adaptation and mitigation;

7. Encourages the Board to further clarify the role of data and information from, inter alia, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and traditional, local and indigenous knowledge and practices in the assessment of concept notes, project preparation funding applications and funding proposals;

8. Also encourages the Board to strengthen country ownership and regional management by proactively engaging national designated authorities in all aspects of the project and programme cycle;

9. Takes note of the exceptional circumstances of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and its significant impact on the implementation of the Board’s updated four-year workplan, recognizes the Board’s efforts during that period and encourages the Board to continue to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its work;

10. Takes note of the continued efforts of the Board to provide financial resources for activities relevant to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage in developing country Parties consistent with the existing investment, results framework and funding windows and structures of the Green Climate Fund, including through the Project Preparation Facility and the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme;

11. Notes the significant number of remaining policy gaps, including updating the accreditation framework to include approving the project-specific assessment approach, updating the simplified approval process, approving the policy on programmatic approaches, completing policies related to the investment framework, and addressing matters related to the Private Sector Facility and strategy, as well as outstanding matters from the rules of procedure of the Board, and urges the Board to prioritize closing the policy gaps as a matter of urgency and to explore diversifying its selection of financial instruments for addressing climate risk including parametric insurance for climatic events;

12. Takes note of the engagement of the President of the Conference of the Parties on the matter of granting privileges and immunities for the Green Climate Fund and its officials and invites the Board to continue efforts to ensure that the Fund enjoys privileges and immunities as are necessary;

13. Urges the Board to finalize in a timely manner its work related to the guidance and arrangements of the Conference of the Parties on financing for forests and alternative approaches as mandated by decision 7/CP.21, paragraphs 23–25;

14. Encourages the Board to continue the integration of gender considerations into its activities, including through its gender policy and by promoting gender balance across the structures of the Fund;

15. Invites the Board to consider ways of improving access to the Fund for local non-governmental and private sector organizations;

16. Also invites Parties to submit to the secretariat views and recommendations on elements of guidance for the Green Climate Fund via the submission portal5 no later than 10 weeks prior to the twenty-seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (November 2022);

17. Requests the Standing Committee on Finance to take into consideration the submissions referred to in paragraph 16 above when preparing its draft guidance for the Green Climate Fund for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-seventh session and the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement at its fourth session (November 2022);

18. Also requests the Board of the Green Climate Fund to include in its annual report to the Conference of the Parties information on the steps it has taken to implement the guidance provided in this decision;

19. Takes note of decision 11/CMA.3 and decides to transmit to the Green Climate Fund the guidance from the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement contained in paragraphs 2–8 of that decision.

The Conference of the Parties,

Recalling Articles 4 and 11 of the Convention,

Also recalling decisions 12/CP.2, 12/CP.3, 1/CP.16, paragraph 112, 2/CP.17, paragraphs 120–121, 5/CP.18, 5/CP.19, 7/CP.19, 6/CP.20, 6/CP.21, 8/CP.22, 7/CP.23, 8/CP.23, 4/CP.24, 11/CP.25, 5/CP.26, 5/CMA.2 and 10/CMA.3,

Taking note of decision 14/CMA.4,

1. Welcomes the 2022 report of the Standing Committee on Finance;

2. Also welcomes the fifth Biennial Assessment and Overview of Climate Finance Flows of the Standing Committee on Finance and the summary, and takes note of the recommendations contained in the annex;

3. Notes that climate finance flows in 2019–2020 were 12 per cent higher than in 2017–2018, reaching an annual average of USD 803 billion, driven by investments in energy efficiency of buildings, sustainable transport and adaptation; the 2019–2020 annual average of public financial support reported by Parties included in Annex II to the Convention in their biennial reports (USD 40.1 billion) represents an increase of 6 per cent from the annual average reported for 2017–2018; the annual average of climate finance from multilateral development banks to developing countries and emerging economies3 (USD 45.9 billion) represents a 17 per cent increase since 2017–2018; and UNFCCC funds and multilateral climate funds committed USD 2.9 billion and USD 3.5 billion for climate finance projects in 2019 and 2020 respectively;

4. Notes with concern that global climate finance flows are small relative to the overall needs of developing countries;

5. Also notes with concern that, despite the clear increasing trend in global climate finance flows, they remain at a relatively low level in the broader context of other finance flows, investment opportunities and costs;

6. Encourages Parties to the Convention to consider implementing the recommendations referred to in paragraph 2 above, as appropriate;

7. Acknowledges the improvement in quality, transparency and granularity of information in the fifth Biennial Assessment while recognizing that data limitations persist, particularly in relation to private climate finance, including private finance mobilized by developed country Parties through bilateral and multilateral channels, and finance in sectors other than energy and transport, and requests further work in this regard in the sixth Biennial Assessment, including in relation to data by region, private finance mobilized from public interventions and financing arrangements relevant to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage;

8. Stresses the importance of reporting on climate finance provided, mobilized, needed and received at both the activity and country level, and of enhancing methodologies for measuring and reporting on the results and impacts of climate finance;

9. Notes that the work of the Standing Committee on Finance on definitions of climate finance4 shows the variety of definitions in use;

10. Also notes the complexities associated with the diversity of definitions of climate finance in use by Parties and non-Party stakeholders in relation to ensuring clear, aggregated accounting and reporting of climate finance;

11. Requests the Standing Committee on Finance to prepare a report for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-eighth session (November–December 2023), building on the Committee’s work on definitions of climate finance, on clustering types of climate finance definitions in use that could be considered within the UNFCCC process, including with a view to updating the Committee’s operational definition of climate finance, as appropriate, and supporting Parties in their national reporting efforts and invites Parties and external stakeholders to make further submissions thereon via the submission portal5 by 30 April 2023;

12. Notes the report prepared by the Standing Committee on Finance on progress towards achieving the goal of mobilizing jointly USD 100 billion per year to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation;

13. Notes with concern that the draft guidance for the operating entities of the Financial Mechanism prepared by the Standing Committee on Finance7 was not utilized by the Conference of the Parties and in this regard requests the Committee to improve its working modalities for preparing the draft guidance for the operating entities of the Financial Mechanism;

14. Expresses its sincere gratitude to the Government of Australia for its support in ensuring the success of the second part of the Standing Committee on Finance Forum on finance for nature-based solutions and notes with appreciation the high-level summary thereof, without prejudice to other multilateral processes, and welcomes the Forum’s specific focus on indigenous peoples and knowledge;

15. Also welcomes financing just transitions as the topic for the Standing Committee on Finance Forum in 2023;

16. Expresses its appreciation to the Governments of Australia and Germany and to the European Commission for their financial contributions to support the work of the Standing Committee on Finance;

17. Endorses the workplan of the Standing Committee on Finance for 20239 and underlines the importance of the Committee focusing its work in 2023 on its current mandates;

18. Welcomes the efforts of the Standing Committee on Finance to continue to strengthen its engagement with stakeholders in the context of its workplan, including UNFCCC constituted bodies, private entities and other entities outside the UNFCCC, and encourages the Committee to continue such efforts in 2023;

19. Also encourages the Standing Committee on Finance to continue to enhance its efforts to ensure gender responsiveness in implementing its workplan and requests Parties to consider gender balance and geographical representation when nominating members to the Committee;

20. Encourages the Standing Committee on Finance to take further steps to accurately, adequately and equitably reflect the views of Parties in its future reports and ensure that those views are presented in a balanced manner that reflects their diversity;

21. Requests the Standing Committee on Finance to report to the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-eighth session on its progress in implementing its workplan for 2023;

22. Also requests the Standing Committee on Finance to consider the guidance provided to it in other relevant decisions of the Conference of the Parties.

The Conference of the Parties,

1. Welcomes the report of the Global Environment Facility to the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-seventh session and its addendum, including the response of the Global Environment Facility to the guidance received from the Conference of the Parties;

2. Also welcomes the work undertaken by the Global Environment Facility during the reporting period 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022, including:

(a) The approval of 86 climate change projects and programmes under the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund;

(b) The continued integration of climate change priorities into its other focal areas and integrated programmes and the expected avoidance or sequestration of 76.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent achieved through such integration;

(c) The continued implementation of the Long-term Vision on Complementarity, Coherence and Collaboration between the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility;

(d) The creation of a competitive window in the System for Transparent Allocation of Resources amounting to 8 per cent of the System for Transparent Allocation of Resources allocation for the five top recipient countries under this system;

3. Further welcomes the conclusion of the eighth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility with USD 5.33 billion, while noting that overall resources available for programming for the climate change focal area in the eighth replenishment increased by 6 per cent compared with the resources available in the seventh replenishment;

4. Welcomes the integrated programming approach of the Global Environment Facility across all five of its focal areas,3 which should help it to maximize the global environmental benefits of its support;

5. Notes the adoption of the private sector engagement strategy4 by the Global Environment Facility Council at its 59th meeting and the renewed non-grant instrument under the eighth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility and encourages the Global Environment Facility to enhance its efforts to mobilize and engage with the private sector during the eighth replenishment period;

6. Welcomes the increased allocation of resources to small island developing States and the least developed countries in the eighth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility under the System for Transparent Allocation of Resources, including through harmonizing the small island developing State floors with the least developed country floors and raising these floors to USD 8 million;

7. Appreciates the efforts of the Global Environment Facility secretariat to scale up adaptation finance for small island developing States through the designation of a dedicated window under the Special Climate Change Fund for supporting the adaptation needs of small island developing States and encourages continued and increased voluntary contributions of financial resources to the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund in line with the Global Environment Facility’s 2022–2026 programming strategy on adaptation to climate change for the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund;

8. Also encourages the Global Environment Facility, in administering the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund, to support developing country Parties in implementing national adaptation plans and other national adaptation planning processes and urges developed country Parties to increase their voluntary contributions to the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund;

9. Encourages the Global Environment Facility to work towards implementing its programming strategy on adaptation to climate change for the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund during the eighth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility so as to effectively assist developing countries;

10. Requests the Global Environment Facility to continue to foster greater diversity of its implementing agencies, building on the comparative advantages of the various agencies and taking into account recipient country priorities;

11. Calls on the Global Environment Facility to enhance its support, within its mandate, for implementing the enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan;

12. Encourages the Global Environment Facility secretariat to recommend further streamlining measures aimed at reducing transaction costs for all implementing agencies, reducing administrative costs, and facilitating increased access by multilateral development banks;

13. Requests the Global Environment Facility to report on its efforts to deliver the increased per project funding ceiling under its Small Grants Programme agreed on during the eighth replenishment process;

14. Welcomes the Global Environment Facility’s commitment to maintain an ambitious level of direct and indirect climate co-benefits in its eighth replenishment;

15. Requests the Global Environment Facility to further explore ways to provide support to developing country Parties for assessing their needs and priorities in a country-driven manner, including technology and capacity-building needs, and for translating climate finance needs into action; 16. Urges the further enhancement of the support provided by the Global Environment Facility for activities related to technology training, funding for technology development and transfer and capacity-building;

17. Encourages the continuing engagement of the Global Environment Facility with the Green Climate Fund, including in implementing the Long-term Vision on Complementarity, Coherence and Collaboration between the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility;

18. Requests the Global Environment Facility, as appropriate, to ensure that its policies and procedures related to the consideration and review of funding proposals are duly followed in an efficient manner;

19. Invites Parties to submit their views and recommendations on elements of guidance for the Global Environment Facility via the submission portal7 no later than 10 weeks prior to the twenty-eighth session of the Conference of the Parties (November–December 2023);

20. Requests the Standing Committee on Finance to take into consideration the submissions referred to in paragraph 19 above when preparing its draft guidance for the Global Environment Facility for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its twentyeighth session and the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement at its fifth session (November–December 2023);

21. Also requests the Global Environment Facility to include in its annual report to the Conference of the Parties information on the steps it has taken to implement the guidance provided in this decision;

22. Takes note of decision -/CMA.48 and decides to transmit to the Global Environment Facility the guidance from the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement contained in paragraphs 2–10 of that decision.