Green Climate Fund Investment Criteria
Applicants must address these criteria when they are developing proposals to submit to the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
LOGIN HEREProjects funded by the Green Climate Fund
The Green Climate Fund provides funding for 8 areas of action.
Projects that mitigate the impact of climate change can be selected across any 4 areas of action, which include generating and providing access to clean energy, low-carbon transport, sustainable forest management and land use, and the buildings, cities, industries, and appliances sector.
Projects that support adaptation to climate change can be selected across any 4 areas of action, which include health, food and water security, improving livelihoods of people and communities, strengthening ecosystems and ecosystem services, and developing infrastructure and built environment that helps businesses and/or communities adapt to climate change.
The more investment criteria selected, the larger the results M&E framework and budget will be.
What are climate change adaptation and mitigation projects?
Adaptation Projects
- Climate change adaptation projects are projects that help communities adapt to the impacts of climate change, such as flooding, drought, and heat waves. This can also include the private sector and enabling environment (policy and legislation).
- Examples of such projects include climate-smart agriculture or coastal zone management.
Mitigation Projects
- Climate change mitigation projects are projects that help communities minimize their contribution to climate change by reducing GHG emissions. This can also include the private sector and enabling environment (policy and legislation).
- Examples of such projects include generating renewable energy, activities that support sustainable use of land and forests, and activities that demonstrate a clear reduction in GHG emissions (e.g., transitioning fleet to EVs).
The Green Climate Fund Investment Criteria
All proposals submitted to the Green Climate Fund for funding must address the following 6 mandatory criteria:
- Impact potential: The proposal must specify how it will help a community mitigate its climate change contributing activities or adapt to climate change.
- Paradigm shift potential: The proposal must show that the project or programme will change the future of the sector and leave a lasting, irreversible impact.
- Sustainable development potential: What are the expected environmental, social and health, and economic benefits of the project?
- The needs of ultimate beneficiaries: What is the vulnerability of the community and country to climate change and access to finance for climate change adaptation and mitigation? How many people will be better protected after the project ends?
- Country ownership: Does the country have policies that support the implementation of this project?
- Efficiency and effectiveness: Is the project financially viable?
The Green Climate Fund Investment Criteria
All proposals submitted to the Green Climate Fund must highlight these 6 criteria:
Criterion 1: Impact Potential
The proposal must highlight the ultimate impact of the project. Is the project going to help a community adapt to the current and future climate change impacts it has experienced? For example, encourage communities to use renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. Is the project going to help communities limit their engagement in activities that contribute to climate change? For example, limit the practice of unsustainable farming practices. The project can address either only climate change adaptation or mitigation or both.
Criterion 2: Paradigm Shift Potential
The proposal must highlight how the project, after it has been implemented, is going to encourage replication and scaling up. Can the project be implemented by other communities? What knowledge and information from the project can be shared with other communities? For example, lessons learned in developing and implementing the project. Can the project influence the local or central government to adopt climate-friendly policies and create incentives for a lasting change?
Criterion 3: Sustainable development potential
The proposal must show how the project will contribute to the protection of environmental quality as well as the social and economic well-being of a community.
- Environmental impact: Will the project contribute to the improvement or maintenance of the quality of the environment?For example, is the project going to contribute to air, water, or soil quality?
- Social impact: Will the project contribute to the social well-being of communities for both men and women equally? For example, does the project contribute to improving access to health, education, cultural preservation of a community?
- Economic impact: Will the project have any economic benefits for the community such as job creation, creating growth opportunities for businesses, increase productivity of businesses?
- Gender sensitive development impact: Will the project reduce the social and economic gaps between men and women in the community?
Criterion 4: Needs of Ultimate Beneficiaries
The proposal must highlight the needs of the beneficiary communities that the project is aiming to address. For adaptation projects, how will the proposal must provide evidence for the scale of the community’s vulnerability. For example, if a project is aiming to improve water security, the proposal must provide evidence of water scarcity that the community is currently facing.
For both adaptation and mitigation projects, the proposals must show the current levels of economic and social challenges the community is facing because of climate change. The proposal must also show that there are limited funding opportunities to fund the project beyond GCF resources.
Criterion 5: Country Ownership
In developing the proposal, have you seen how your project will contribute to the climate change strategy of the government? Have you looked at any policy documents to see how the project will contribute to these policies? Have you researched the Green Climate Fund Accredited Entities in Saint Lucia and any projects they have supported? Have you consulted with anyone in the community that is going to benefit from your project?
Criterion 6: Efficiency & Effectiveness
What is the financial structure/ budget of the proposal? Will the funding from Green Climate Fund encourage other institutions to provide additional funding? What is the potential gain of the project compared to the initial investment needed for the project to start?What are some innovative ideas the project is going to use? For example, if the project is a water harvesting project what are some new technologies or ideas that the project is going to use?
The Indicative Assessment Factors
The 6 investment criteria are accompanied by indicative assessment factors which provide some measurement units for some of the questions asked. Where possible, use the measurement units noted in the investment criteria.
✓ For example, under criterion 4 on quantifying the size of the vulnerable group, provide numerical figures such as number of people affected by the problem the project is trying to address.
Please note that the proposal does not have to provide information for all indicative assessment factors, however, try to address the ones that are applicable to the projector programme.
✓ For example, under criterion 4, a climate change mitigation project does not have to provide evidence for the number of people affected by climate change. However, a climate change adaptation project will have to provide this information.
If you need guidance on which assessment factors to address, please contact the Saint Lucia Department of Economic Development, Transport and Civil Aviation for guidance or access the Green Climate Fund website. See the sources provided for more detailed information.
For more information:
Detailed Green Climate Fund Investment Criteria:
Website
Saint Lucia Green Climate Fund National Designated Authority (NDA):
Website
Saint Lucia Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Youth Economy.
1st Floor,
Finance Administrative Centre,
Point Seraphine,
Castries, Saint Lucia.
1-(758) 468-1580.
Commonwealth Climate Change Finance Access Hub:
Website
Caribbean Community Climate Change Center:
Website
