Publication

At its 16th session in Cancun in 2010, the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) decided to establish the Green Climate Fund (GCF) under Article 11 of the Convention, as an operating entity of the Convention’s financial mechanism “to support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing country Parties”. In Durban in 2011, COP 17 in Decision 3/CP.17 approved the Governing Instrument (GI) of the GCF and requested the new Board to operationalize the GCF “in an expedited manner.” 

The Governing Instrument (GI) recognizes the importance of mainstreaming gender into GCF financing, setting a first step towards operationalizing the social safeguards of Decision 3/CP.17. The GI contains five key references to gender, anchoring gender as a cross-cutting issue in the GCF. Most importantly, the GI’s section on Objectives and Guiding Principles states that the GCF will maximize the impact of its funding for adaptation and mitigation while taking a gender-sensitive approach.  This makes the GCF the first climate fund to mandate the integration of gender perspectives from the very outset of its operations.

This background paper is offered by the Danish/Dutch board seat of the GCF for consideration by the members of the GCF Board. It makes good on the offer that the Danish/Dutch representative made at the first GCF Board Meeting in August 2012 in Geneva to submit a paper on how a gender-sensitive approach in the GCF can be operationalized. The paper advocates for the explicit inclusion of gender considerationsin the GCF Board’s work plan for 2013. The GCF is expected to support a fundamental paradigm shift in addressing climate change by establishing new best practices, including in its approach to gender. While there is broad support and commitment among Board members to get the gender approach right from the beginning, there is a knowledge gap about how to integrate gender considerationsin the GCF structure and operations. This paper addresses this knowledge gap and provides concrete tools and recommendations, particularly in the context of Board discussions on the business model framework (BMF) for the Fund.