Gender Mandates in Climate Policy

The Conference of the Parties,

12. Welcomes the continued support by the Global Environment Facility for climatefriendly innovation, and technology development and transfer and related capacity-building, including in partnership with private sector actors and others and requests the Global Environment Facility to continue to provide such support, in particular for technology needs assessments, and technology action plans and their implementation;

13. Also requests the Global Environment Facility to consider ways to enhance its ongoing work to fund activities relevant to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage, consistent with its current mandates;

14. Encourages the Global Environment Facility to continue its efforts to further streamline, consolidate and increase the efficiency of its operations, including by simplifying the information requirements for designing and implementing its projects and programmes;

15. Welcomes the ongoing efforts of the Global Environment Facility to improve its fiduciary standards, to which its implementing agencies are accountable;

16. Also welcomes the ongoing efforts of the Global Environment Facility to continue assessing and addressing the risks induced by the current level of funding concentration among some of its implementing agencies;

17. Encourages the Global Environment Facility to continue to show appropriate flexibility with respect to geographical restrictions in implementing agencies to reduce agency concentration and enable wider geographical reach of its projects, in a country-driven manner;

18. Also encourages the Global Environment Facility to open a targeted round of implementing agency expansion within the Global Environment Facility partnership with a focus on underserved regions, with regard to implementing agency coverage, in line with existing policies and procedures;

19. Further encourages the Global Environment Facility to enhance the coherence and complementarity with other climate finance delivery channels with a view to enhancing the impact and effectiveness of its work and decreasing transaction costs, inter alia through streamlining and simplifying, where feasible and to the extent possible, its procedures and guidelines and takes note of these ongoing efforts;

20. Notes the adoption of the private sector engagement strategy 3 of the Global Environment Facility at the 59th meeting of the Council of the Global Environment Facility and encourages the Global Environment Facility to reinforce its efforts to mobilize and engage with private sector actors during its eighth replenishment;

21. Requests the Global Environment Facility, from existing allocations in the Blended Finance Global Programme, to further explore risk-taking and to foster innovation in the context of its programming in order to use its concessional financing more effectively and mobilize additional private funds;

22. Welcomes the policy on gender equality adopted by the Council of the Global Environment Facility and encourages the Global Environment Facility to ensure that all its implementing agencies apply this policy;

23. Also encourages the Global Environment Facility to further explore ways to provide support for assessing the needs and priorities of developing countries5 in a country-driven manner, including technology and capacity-building needs, and for translating climate finance needs into action;

24. Invites Parties to submit to the secretariat their views and recommendations on elements of guidance for the Global Environment Facility via the submission portal6 no later than 12 weeks prior to the twenty-ninth session of the Conference of the Parties (November 2024);

25. Requests the Standing Committee on Finance to take into consideration the submissions referred to in paragraph 24 above in preparing its draft guidance for the Global Environment Facility and 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; 26. Takes note of decision -/CMA.57 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 2–12 of that decision.

(This gender language is identical across the Decision 3/CMP.19 and Decision 13/CMA.6 texts, which are two separate decisions.)

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, 3/CMP.15, 3/CMP.16, 4/CMP.17 and 3/CMP.18,

Also recalling decision 13/CMA.1, Further recalling decision 5/CMP.17, paragraph 8,

1. Welcomes the annual report of the Adaptation Fund Board for 2024, including its addendum, and the information therein;

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

(a) The progress of the Adaptation Fund Board in implementing the Medium-Term Strategy of the Adaptation Fund for 2023–20272 in line with the Board’s implementation plan;

(b) The decision of the Adaptation Fund Board to update the environmental and social safeguard policy of the Adaptation Fund;4

(c) The adoption of a resource mobilization target for 2024 of USD 300 million, to come from a greater number of contributors than in 2023;

(d) Cumulative receipts of USD 1,827.14 million, as at 30 June 2024, into the Adaptation Fund Trust Fund, comprising USD 215.83 million from the monetization of certified emission reductions, USD 1,489.88 million from voluntary contributions and USD 121.43 million from investment income earned on the Trust Fund balance;

(e) Cash receipts amounting to USD 309.94 million, comprising USD 0.91 million from the monetization of certified emission reductions, USD 256.92 million from voluntary contributions and USD 52.11 million from investment income earned on the Adaptation Fund Trust Fund balance, received between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024;

(f) Outstanding pledged contributions from previous years of USD 122.57 million, of which USD 72.67 million under signed agreements, as at 20 November 2024;

3. Welcomes the financial pledges made towards the Adaptation Fund resource mobilization target for 2024 of USD 300 million, to come from more than the 14 contributors in 2023, by the Governments of Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as the governments of the Brussels-Capital and Walloon Regions of Belgium, equivalent to USD 132.85 million;

4. Notes with concern the outstanding pledged contributions to the Adaptation Fund and urges Parties to fulfil their pledges as soon as possible;

5. Encourages continued and increased voluntary contributions of financial resources to the Adaptation Fund in line with its resource mobilization strategy for 2022–2025;

6. Underscores the urgency of scaling up financial resources, including the provision of voluntary support, that are additional to the share of proceeds levied on certified emission reductions in order to support the resource mobilization efforts of the Adaptation Fund Board with a view to strengthening the Adaptation Fund;

7. Emphasizes the importance of continuing to take action to promote the adequacy and predictability of adaptation finance, including through multi-year contributions, taking into account the role of the Adaptation Fund in delivering dedicated support for adaptation;

8. Recalls the importance of financial contributions to the Adaptation Fund, including in the context of urging developed country Parties to at least double their collective provision of climate finance for adaptation to developing countries from 2019 levels by 2025, in the context of achieving a balance between mitigation and adaptation in the provision of scaled-up financial resources, recalling Article 9, paragraph 4, of the Paris Agreement, as per paragraph 18 of decision 1/CMA.3;

9. Encourages the achievement of the goals set out in the Medium-Term Strategy of the Adaptation Fund for 2023–2027 with the expectation that its implementation will generate significant outcomes in terms of promoting locally led adaptation, scaling up projects and replicating their results, and strengthening linkages and synergies between the Strategy’s strategic pillars of action, innovation, and learning and sharing;

10. Welcomes the establishment by the Adaptation Fund Board of a new global aggregator programme for channelling small grants for locally led adaptation projects and programmes to non-accredited entities, and of a new funding window for regional projects and programmes on locally led adaptation, as well as the approval of 13 single-country proposals and 1 regional proposal, and notes with appreciation the efforts of developing country Parties to access funding under the Adaptation Fund for implementing concrete adaptation activities;

11. Welcomes the approval of additional financing and delivery partners for the global aggregator programme under the Adaptation Fund innovation facility and requests the Adaptation Fund Board to accelerate efforts to implement the programme;

12. Underscores the need to tailor projects to local contexts, including through initial assessments and consultations with diverse groups in line with the Adaptation Fund guidelines and policies;

13. Notes the increased support for readiness and capacity-building as a result of increasing project formulation grants for all projects and programmes, with additional support for locally led adaptation projects, and stresses the importance of the continuation of this work;

14. Takes note of the information in the report referred to in paragraph 1 above, welcomes the consideration by the Adaptation Fund Board of the funding caps, noting that the Board had requested the secretariat to prepare an analysis for consideration at its 43rd meeting, and requests the Board to complete its consideration in a timely manner;

15. Welcomes the decision of the Adaptation Fund Board to outline an enhanced readiness programme and looks forward to receiving an update on progress in this regard;

16. Welcomes the progress of the Adaptation Fund Board in implementing the updated gender policy and action plan of the Adaptation Fund6 and the gender scorecard, including by developing the first Adaptation Fund e-learning course on gender mainstreaming to help strengthen the capacity of implementing entities to develop gender-responsive adaptation projects, and requests the Adaptation Fund Board to further increase the gender-responsiveness of the resources of the Adaptation Fund;

17. Invites the Adaptation Fund Board to consider areas for improvement in the context of the gender-responsiveness of the work of the Adaptation Fund, taking into account relevant insights, including from the summary report on the 2024 Standing Committee on Finance Forum on accelerating climate action and resilience through gender-responsive finance;

18. Welcomes the decision of the Adaptation Fund Board to develop and adopt a standalone Adaptation Fund policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment and reiterates the importance of the Adaptation Fund Board completing its work in this regard;

19. Welcomes the work of the Adaptation Fund Board on complementarity and coherence with other multilateral climate funds10 and encourages the Board to continue this work with a view to simplifying its access modalities, as appropriate, and maximizing its impact;

20. Welcomes the continued collaboration between the Adaptation Fund and the Technology Executive Committee and the Climate Technology Centre and Network, including through the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator, and encourages continued collaboration in this regard;

21. Also encourages the Adaptation Fund Board to complete, as a matter of priority, its work related to implementing its mandates in decisions 1/CMP.14 and 13/CMA.1 and to report thereon in its annual report to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol at its twentieth session (November 2025) and the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement at its seventh session (November 2025);

22. Emphasizes the need for maintaining continuity in implementing the activities of the Adaptation Fund Board during the transition of the Adaptation Fund from the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement, including continued access of developing countries to support for adaptation;

23. Requests the Subsidiary Body for Implementation to consider, at its sixty-second session (June 2025), the matter of the arrangements for the Adaptation Fund to exclusively serve the Paris Agreement and to make recommendations on this matter for consideration by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol at its twentieth session.

The Conference of the Parties

1. Notes the report of the Global Environment Facility to the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-ninth session, including the responses of the Global Environment Facility to previous guidance received from the Conference of the Parties, and welcomes the approval by the Council of the Global Environment Facility of several work programmes;

2. Invites the Global Environment Facility, in the context of programming for the climate change focal area under its ninth replenishment, to consider, inter alia:

(a) Working with developing countries on ways of incorporating just transition elements into national climate plans and programmes;

(b) Working with developing countries on establishing nationally determined mechanisms to facilitate coordination of support received; (c) Ways of increasing the contribution of the Global Environment Facility project portfolio to adaptation, as appropriate, in line with its mandate; (d) Supporting the development of pipelines of projects in line with national plans and strategies;

(e) Ways of supporting developing countries in their efforts to strengthen institutional capacity and/or arrangements, as appropriate, for climate action, in line with needs and priorities of developing country Parties;

(f) Consulting with the Technology Executive Committee and the Climate Technology Centre and Network on technology-related elements of the programming; (g) Continuing to provide technical support for developing country Parties for their preparation of national communications, recognizing that such support is based on technical considerations and should enhance the technical capacity of countries;

3. Welcomes the ongoing efforts undertaken by the Global Environment Facility, in collaboration with the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund and the Climate Investment Funds, with a view to enhancing developing countries’ access to climate finance, scaling up successful projects, maximizing the impact of climate finance and strengthening coherence and invites the Global Environment Facility to ensure that efforts to enhance coherence and complementarity among climate funds do not restrict the access of developing countries to resources or reduce the finance available to them;

4. Requests the Global Environment Facility, in administering the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund, to contribute to improving the coherence of and coordination across the funding arrangements for responding to loss and damage in line with decisions 1/CP.28 and 5/CMA.5;

5. Also requests the Global Environment Facility to continue ensuring that its efforts to enhance coherence and complementarity with other climate funds do not result in restricted access to resources by developing countries or reduced availability of finance for them;

6. Urges the Global Environment Facility to ensure that a broad range of implementing agencies are engaged in its programming in order to reduce concentration of projects among few implementing agencies and also urges the Global Environment Facility, in the context of its review of the Global Environment Facility partnership, to consider national and regional entities in developing countries in all regions, with a focus on underserved regions, when expanding the number of implementing agencies;

7. Further urges the Global Environment Facility to consider ways of strengthening local capacities and country ownership in its provision of support;

8. Notes with concern the absence of a pledging session for the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund at this session of the Conference of the Parties owing to the small number of pledges, highlighting the importance of increased support for both Funds, and recalling paragraph 8 of decision 17/CP.27, while acknowledging approval of the largest ever Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund work programme in fiscal year 2024, with USD 382.32 million allocated to 31 projects and programmes under the Least Developed Countries Fund and USD 24.87 million to 5 projects under the Special Climate Change Fund, totalling USD 407.19 million across 36 projects and programmes;

9. Requests the Global Environment Facility to further streamline the processes of the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund to simplify access for eligible countries, as appropriate;

10. Welcomes the ongoing collaboration of the Global Environment Facility with the Technology Executive Committee and the Climate Technology Centre and Network and encourages the Global Environment Facility to consider opportunities for scaling up programmes focused on technology and innovation;

11. Invites the Global Environment Facility to consider areas for improvement in the context of the gender-responsiveness of its work, taking into account relevant insights, including the summary report of the 2024 Forum of the Standing Committee on Finance on accelerating climate action and resilience through gender-responsive finance;

12. Encourages the Global Environment Facility to work to ensure that all its implementing agencies fully comply with its policy on gender equality3 in implementing climate projects funded by the Global Environment Facility in order to help ensure equal opportunities for women and men in terms of participating in, contributing to and benefiting from activities financed by the Global Environment Facility;

13. Also encourages the Global Environment Facility to clearly outline in its work programmes how Indigenous Peoples as well as local communities can meaningfully engage in the development of Global Environment Facility programmes and projects and benefit therefrom;

14. Requests the Global Environment Facility, in administering the Least Developed Countries Fund, to continue facilitating the smooth transition of developing countries graduating from least developed country status by continuing to provide approved funding through the Fund until the completion of projects approved by the Least Developed Countries Fund Council prior to those countries’ graduation from least developed country status and also requests the Global Environment Facility to consider developing further measures to help ensure this smooth transition for recently graduated least developed countries;

15. Further requests the Global Environment Facility to continue to support the strengthening of institutional arrangements and the building of capacity in developing countries with a view to facilitating improved access to and use of Global Environment Facility resources, facilitating knowledge-sharing and South–South learning on Global Environment Facility projects and exploring areas for further collaboration;

[...]

The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement,

Recalling Article 9 of the Paris Agreement,

Also recalling Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Paris Agreement, which sets out the goals of the Paris Agreement, and Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Paris Agreement, which provides that the Agreement will be implemented to reflect equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances, Further recalling decision 1/CP.21, paragraph 53, Recalling decisions 14/CMA.1, 9/CMA.3, 5/CMA.4 and 8/CMA.5,

1. Affirms that the new collective quantified goal on climate finance is aimed at contributing to accelerating the achievement of Article 2 of the Paris Agreement of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change; increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emission development in a manner that does not threaten food production; and making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development;

2. Reaffirms the outcomes of the first global stocktake and stresses the urgency of enhancing ambition and action in this critical decade to address the gaps in the implementation of the goals of the Paris Agreement;

3. Highlights that costed needs reported in nationally determined contributions of developing country Parties are estimated at USD 5.1–6.8 trillion for up until 2030 or USD 455–584 billion per year1 and adaptation finance needs are estimated at USD 215–387 billion annually for up until 20302 and notes with concern the gap between climate finance flows and needs, particularly for adaptation in developing country Parties;

4. Notes the findings of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, including the urgency of climate action; that finance, technology and international cooperation are critical enablers for accelerated climate action; that if climate goals are to be achieved, both adaptation and mitigation financing would need to be increased manyfold; and that there is sufficient global capital to close the global investment gap but there are barriers to redirecting capital to climate action, and that governments, through public funding and clear signals to investors, are key in reducing these barriers; 

5. Decides that the new collective quantified goal on climate finance will support the implementation of developing country Parties’, inter alia, nationally determined contributions, national adaptation plans and adaptation communications, including those submitted as adaptation components of nationally determined contributions; contribute to increasing and accelerating ambition; and reflect the evolving needs and priorities of developing country Parties, especially those that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change and have significant capacity constraints, such as the least developed countries and small island developing States;

6. Reiterates the importance of reforming the multilateral financial architecture4 and underscores the need to remove barriers and address disenablers faced by developing country Parties in financing climate action, including high costs of capital, limited fiscal space, unsustainable debt levels, high transaction costs and conditionalities for accessing climate finance;

7. Calls on all actors to work together to enable the scaling up of financing to developing country Parties for climate action from all public and private sources to at least USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2035;

8. Reaffirms, in this context, Article 9 of the Paris Agreement and decides to set a goal, in extension of the goal referred to in paragraph 53 of decision 1/CP.21, with developed country Parties taking the lead, of at least USD 300 billion per year by 2035 for developing country Parties for climate action:

(a) From a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources;

(b) In the context of meaningful and ambitious mitigation and adaptation action, and transparency in implementation;

(c) Recognizing the voluntary intention of Parties to count all climate-related outflows from and climate-related finance mobilized by multilateral development banks towards achievement of the goal set forth in this paragraph;

[...]

26. Urges Parties and other relevant actors to promote the inclusion and extension of benefits to vulnerable communities and groups in climate finance efforts, including women and girls, children and youth, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, migrants and refugees, climate-vulnerable communities and people in vulnerable situations;

[...]