GCF insight #24: Five common challenges in GCF project building

19 October 2023, Category: All insights, GCF insight, News, Tags: climate change, climate finance, co-financing, gcf, GCF insight, Green Climate Fund, NDAs, private sector, project design

Download your copy of GCF insight #24 today to explore solutions to five common challenges in GCF project design and application. 

GCF insight #24 is the latest report in our GCF insight series. This latest edition is an independent analysis of five top challenges experienced by AEs, NDAs, NGOs, and others, when accessing climate finance from the GCF. These challenges are:

1. Attracting the private sector for co-financing opportunities.
2. Friction within co-financing.
3. The shortcomings present within GCF country programming.
4. A lack of NDA engagement with GCF processes.
5. Capacity issues within project work.

So why these five issues in particular? Well, because multilateral organisations always suffer from multilateral challenges, challenges that require multilateral action. “It takes a village”, as they say. This inspires us to dedicate this edition of GCF insight to analysing and addressing them.

As a team of climate finance project designers, we encounter a variety of challenges across GCF project development daily, within the widest of social and geographical contexts. It is these five challenges that our experienced consultancy team collectively agreed would be worthwhile to dive a little deeper into.

The ultimate goal of this twenty-fourth edition is to learn about, communicate, and propose solutions to some of the key challenges faced by GCF project developers. We believe the GCF is an incredibly impactful financial mechanism for introducing real and equitable change for climate-vulnerable communities, and so we view this report as one part of the conversation aimed at contributing to the optimisation of the overall GCF process.

About GCF insight

Our initial survey and report is an initiative of E Co., emerging from work we are doing to develop low-carbon, climate-resilient projects. E Co’s team of consultants designed and administered the survey which was used to inform and prepare this report. E Co. has conducted this research independently and is not affiliated with the GCF, the GCF Secretariat or donors. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not represent those of the Green Climate Fund. Nothing in the interviews or any information or material relating thereto shall be construed as implying any official endorsement of or responsibility on the part of the Green Climate Fund.

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Let’s accelerate progress together: Get in touch with our climate finance consultants to discuss a project you’re working on. Email us at: amy@ecoltdgroup.com or find us at the following:

Twitter: @ecoltdnews
LinkedIn: E Co.
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Please feel free to share your comments below or send an email to: gcfinsight@ecoltdgroup.com.

We are very grateful to the respondents and interviewees of this study for their contributions and insights.