WASHINGTON — Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the United States’ multi-year pledge of $3 billion for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for its Second Replenishment (GCF-2), 2024-2027.
“Today’s pledge sends a critical signal at COP28 that the United States is committed to playing a leading role in helping emerging markets and developing economies mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate. The Green Climate Fund is the world’s largest multilateral climate fund and a much needed source of concessional finance. We are working with its new Executive Director and other board members on an ambitious agenda to make it more effective and responsive to countries, and we are partnering with the private sector to maximize its impact and stretch every dollar,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen.
“The GCF has established a strong track record of enabling countries to accelerate the energy transition, assisting communities around the world in building resilience to the impacts of the climate crisis, and mobilizing significant private capital for climate action. Through this pledge to support the GCF’s second replenishment and its role on the Board, the United States will help to supercharge these efforts,” said Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
In the context of this pledge, and building on its year as co-chair of the GCF Board with Pakistan, the United States will champion an ambitious GCF evolution agenda to explore ways to better leverage the GCF’s balance sheet, including through an improved private-sector financing platform; increasing innovation to unlock private capital; and improving access for small island developing states (SIDS), least developed countries (LDCs), and African States. In this regard, the United States reserves the ability to direct a portion of this pledge to other climate programs to the extent necessary based on the pace of progress.
The GCF was established in 2010 to mobilize finance to help developing countries reduce their emissions, strengthen the resilience of their economies and critical infrastructure, enhance energy security through diversification of energy sources, and assist the most vulnerable in these countries to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. The GCF strives to have a balance between mitigation and adaptation in its portfolio. GCF’s current portfolio consists of $13.5 billion in GCF funding and co-financing of $51 billion across 243 projects. To date, each dollar of GCF investment has attracted approximately $3 of investment from private sector partners, creating investment and growth opportunities for U.S. businesses.
The United States supported the GCF from its start, providing $2 billion for the Initial Resource Mobilization of the GCF.
Now, the United States is joining a group of more than 25 countries that have already pledged financial support to the second GCF replenishment. This pledge is subject to the availability of funds.
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