GCF leaves COP30 ready to ramp up climate finance, mobilise $1.3tr

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) concluded its activities at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, prepared to ramp up its operations to help implement the new global goal for adaptation finance.

Among the key COP30 outcomes were the decision to triple adaptation finance by 2035 and the confirmation of the broader goal to mobilise USD 1.3 trillion in climate finance per year by the same date. GCF’s efficiency reforms have already resulted in a record volume of programming in 2025, and the Fund is now well-positioned to scale up its operations to respond to the urgent need for adaptation and mitigation climate finance.

GCF began the conference – dubbed the ‘Implementation COP’ – by showcasing its ability to deliver climate finance at scale, reflecting on a record year in which the Fund programmed USD 3.26 billion in new climate finance. GCF’s portfolio now includes 336 projects, representing USD 19.3 billion in GCF resources and USD 78.7 billion when expected co-financing is included.

Several senior government officials – from both developed and developing countries – reaffirmed GCF’s central role in climate finance. Germany’s Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Reem Alabali Radovan, described GCF as a global hub where public trust meets private innovation. “Together, we can make the second decade of the Green Climate Fund one of acceleration, leverage, and lasting impact,” she stated. Ministers from Togo and Papua New Guinea also praised GCF’s contributions and called for continued collaboration to meet urgent climate needs.

Launch of investment platforms

At the conclusion of COP30, GCF showcased its support for a total of 15 new country and regional platforms, which were announced in collaboration with the Fund. With the announcement of the Brazil and Caribbean platforms a few months ago, GCF intends to support 17 such platforms. The platforms are set to drive country-led climate and nature-based solutions.

At a time when climate impacts are accelerating, and global finance is falling short, these announcements represent a significant and coordinated effort to support countries in leading the planning, financing, and delivery of their own climate action. The platforms will help governments turn national priorities into investable pipelines, deploy finance more effectively, and speed up the implementation of projects and policies. The platforms will be supported by GCF’s Readiness Programme, the world’s largest climate finance capacity building initiative.

GCF support to the platforms will draw on many of the lessons in an overview of its GCF.10 Impact Report – titled “A decade of global climate: Building resilience, transforming lives” – unveiled at COP30. The report marks ten years since the Fund’s first projects were approved in 2015, on the eve of the adoption of the Paris Agreement.

The GCF.10 Impact Report was launched at the high-level side event, “GCF.10: A decade of climate impact,” where GCF partners and stakeholders reflected on the scale and reach of GCF’s finance in pursuit of the Fund’s three main goals of delivering capital at scale, strengthening national institutions, and partnering for greater climate impact.

Programming news

One of the major new GCF partnerships announced at COP30 was the Climate Resilient Enduring Earth (CREE) initiative, a collaboration between the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). GCF committed USD 2.4 million in Project Preparation Facility support (as part of a total USD 4.5 million in support from all partners) to develop proposals aimed at increasing the climate resilience of nature and people in Botswana, Namibia, Guatemala, and Bolivia.

CREE seeks to permanently conserve up to 85 million hectares of new land and water through the demarcation of new protected/ conserved areas and/ or greatly enhanced management of existing such areas. For perspective, this is larger than the combined size of the UK and France.

GCF signed a memorandum of understanding with Just Climate to mobilise private institutional capital for climate solutions in emerging markets. The Fund also signed project agreements with the Accredited Entities, the Asian Development Bank, and the International Finance Corporation, for the recently approved Glaciers to Farm Programme and the Resilient Water Infrastructure Facility, respectively.

The Fund launched its Locally Led Climate Action (LLCA) Framework and Guidance, which will boost locally led adaptation efforts. The Framework aligns GCF and partners on LLCA best practices to increase investments that support devolved decision-making and finance, local ownership and implementation, scalability and sustainable local capacities.

GCF joined the Belém Call to Action for the Congo Basin Forests and announced a commitment of USD 300 million over the next five years to protect one of the world’s most vital carbon sinks and biodiversity hubs. The commitment will consist of a mix of support and investment modalities for the Congo Basin, with a focus on six countries: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.

As an indication of GCF’s focus on enhancing its support for climate-vulnerable communities, the Fund reaffirmed its commitment to increasing access to climate finance for Indigenous Peoples. GCF also joined the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty as the Belém Declaration on Hunger, Poverty, and Human-Centered Climate Action was adopted at COP.

In a landmark move towards greater coherence within the overall architecture of climate finance, GCF joined forces with the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), Global Environment Facility (GEF), and Adaptation Fund to launch the Multilateral Climate Funds Joint Results Report 2025. This initiative aligns shared result areas and indicators across mitigation, adaptation, energy, and nature, laying the groundwork for more transparent and collaborative climate finance delivery.

GCF approaches the start of its next fundraising cycle (replenishment) in late 2026, well-positioned to leverage its unique role as the primary operating entity of the financial mechanism under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Its reforms have revamped the accreditation process, and improved efficiency and access to finance. As the Fund prepares to role out a regional presence, it is set to move even closer to countries.