Giving Compass' Take:

• Johannes F. Linn describes ways that The Green Climate Fund (GCF) can learn from a past replenishment process to keep mobilizing and gathering funds to combat climate change. 

• How can donors help the GCF lay out a clear longer-term vision of its ambition for its contribution to climate finance?

• Learn more about mobilizing philanthropists for collective impact toward climate action. 


The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was set up by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010. It is the premier multilateral climate finance organization and represents a critical element in the compact between developed and developing countries to address climate mitigation and adaptation challenges in the developing world in support of the Paris Agreement. In 2014, member countries pledged $10.3 billion for the first five years of GCF operations. But only about $7 billion were received, since the U.S. paid just $1 billion from its original pledge of $3 billion, and since major contributor currencies had depreciated against the dollar. With most of the funds committed by the end of 2019, replenishment of the GCF became an urgent necessity.

The GCF Board approved the first replenishment on November 14, 2019, with pledges by contributing countries amounting to $9.8 billion. With the benefit of a few months’ distance, one can now consider the significance of this outcome, the key factors that helped bring it about, what challenges the GCF faces in the future, and what lessons can be learned from this replenishment for subsequent replenishment efforts.

Read the full article about mobilizing funds to combat climate change by Johannes F. Linn at Brookings.