Second Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Green Climate Fund

The Second Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) took place on November 26, 2021, at the Embassy of Mexico in the Republic of Korea. The purpose of the meeting was to disseminate information on the activities and achievements of the Fund in 2021 and to exchange ideas and experiences on scaling up climate action, particularly after COP26.

The meeting brought together the Ambassadors of Costa Rica, France, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Norway, and the United Kingdom, as well as the diplomatic representatives of Canada, Germany, India, Mongolia, New Zealand, and Rwanda. The Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund, Mr. Yannick GLEMAREC, and the Director-General for Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Scientific Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, Mr. LEE Tong-q, also participated.

On his welcoming remarks, the Ambassador of Mexico, H.E. Bruno FIGUEROA, acknowledged and recognized the work undertaken by the GCF this year towards responding to climate change challenges. He stated that “the GCF, with the invaluable support of its Board members, was able to raise $ 2.9 billion dollars funds in 2021 for developing countries, a record high number since the GCF was established in 2010. Furthermore, this year, and under the co-chairmanship of France and Mexico, the GCF reached $10 billion in cumulative funding approvals.”

The Ambassador of France, H.E. Philippe LEFORT, referred to the COP26 as “the most important international meeting on climate since the COP21 in 2015.” He mentioned that the Glasgow Climate Pact “includes several major advances for the implementation of the Paris Agreement, whether it be the rules for the carbon market or the strengthening of transparency of reporting. As such, it deserves to be welcomed.”

Executive Director of the GCF, Mr. Yannick GLEMAREC, discussed on the urgency of climate action, shared the results of the Thirtieth Meeting of the GCF Board and the priority directions of GCF for 2022. Mr. GLEMAREC and the Secretary to the Board and Head of Governance Affairs to the GCF, Mrs. Carolina FUENTES, talked about the role of GCF at COP26 and the way forward.

In the words of Mr. GLEMAREC “COP26 highlighted the urgent need to increase climate finance, including both closing the adaptation finance gap, as well as catalyzing greater flows of private sector climate investments. Delivering on climate finance will be key to achieving the Paris Agreement goals. As part of the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC, the GCF is contributing to this goal by rapidly increasing the pace of our programming. We added nearly USD 3 billion in new climate finance commitments in 2021, and have also accelerated our implementation of our portfolio, delivering climate finance to developing countries to support a green, climate-resilient recovery.”

The Ambassadors and diplomatic representatives shared their views and their countries’ perspectives on the COP26, as well as on the GCF current work.

The Group of Friends of the Green Climate Fund was launched on 17 June 2021 by Embassies that share the same vision on the need to act and to call for greater ambition, in a context marked by climate urgency. Its goal is to strengthen the relationship between the GCF (headquartered in the Republic of Korea) and Diplomatic Missions in the Republic of Korea, and to disseminate information on the activities and achievements of the Fund more widely. It is co-chaired by the ambassadors of the States co-chairing the Board of the GCF in the Republic of Korea (currently France and Mexico). Membership is voluntary and open to all Diplomatic Missions interested on climate change action.

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