The Conference of the Parties
1. Notes the report of the Global Environment Facility to the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-ninth session, including the responses of the Global Environment Facility to previous guidance received from the Conference of the Parties, and welcomes the approval by the Council of the Global Environment Facility of several work programmes;
2. Invites the Global Environment Facility, in the context of programming for the climate change focal area under its ninth replenishment, to consider, inter alia:
(a) Working with developing countries on ways of incorporating just transition elements into national climate plans and programmes;
(b) Working with developing countries on establishing nationally determined mechanisms to facilitate coordination of support received; (c) Ways of increasing the contribution of the Global Environment Facility project portfolio to adaptation, as appropriate, in line with its mandate; (d) Supporting the development of pipelines of projects in line with national plans and strategies;
(e) Ways of supporting developing countries in their efforts to strengthen institutional capacity and/or arrangements, as appropriate, for climate action, in line with needs and priorities of developing country Parties;
(f) Consulting with the Technology Executive Committee and the Climate Technology Centre and Network on technology-related elements of the programming; (g) Continuing to provide technical support for developing country Parties for their preparation of national communications, recognizing that such support is based on technical considerations and should enhance the technical capacity of countries;
3. Welcomes the ongoing efforts undertaken by the Global Environment Facility, in collaboration with the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund and the Climate Investment Funds, with a view to enhancing developing countries’ access to climate finance, scaling up successful projects, maximizing the impact of climate finance and strengthening coherence and invites the Global Environment Facility to ensure that efforts to enhance coherence and complementarity among climate funds do not restrict the access of developing countries to resources or reduce the finance available to them;
4. Requests the Global Environment Facility, in administering the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund, to contribute to improving the coherence of and coordination across the funding arrangements for responding to loss and damage in line with decisions 1/CP.28 and 5/CMA.5;
5. Also requests the Global Environment Facility to continue ensuring that its efforts to enhance coherence and complementarity with other climate funds do not result in restricted access to resources by developing countries or reduced availability of finance for them;
6. Urges the Global Environment Facility to ensure that a broad range of implementing agencies are engaged in its programming in order to reduce concentration of projects among few implementing agencies and also urges the Global Environment Facility, in the context of its review of the Global Environment Facility partnership, to consider national and regional entities in developing countries in all regions, with a focus on underserved regions, when expanding the number of implementing agencies;
7. Further urges the Global Environment Facility to consider ways of strengthening local capacities and country ownership in its provision of support;
8. Notes with concern the absence of a pledging session for the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund at this session of the Conference of the Parties owing to the small number of pledges, highlighting the importance of increased support for both Funds, and recalling paragraph 8 of decision 17/CP.27, while acknowledging approval of the largest ever Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund work programme in fiscal year 2024, with USD 382.32 million allocated to 31 projects and programmes under the Least Developed Countries Fund and USD 24.87 million to 5 projects under the Special Climate Change Fund, totalling USD 407.19 million across 36 projects and programmes;
9. Requests the Global Environment Facility to further streamline the processes of the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund to simplify access for eligible countries, as appropriate;
10. Welcomes the ongoing collaboration of the Global Environment Facility with the Technology Executive Committee and the Climate Technology Centre and Network and encourages the Global Environment Facility to consider opportunities for scaling up programmes focused on technology and innovation;
11. Invites the Global Environment Facility to consider areas for improvement in the context of the gender-responsiveness of its work, taking into account relevant insights, including the summary report of the 2024 Forum of the Standing Committee on Finance on accelerating climate action and resilience through gender-responsive finance;
12. Encourages the Global Environment Facility to work to ensure that all its implementing agencies fully comply with its policy on gender equality3 in implementing climate projects funded by the Global Environment Facility in order to help ensure equal opportunities for women and men in terms of participating in, contributing to and benefiting from activities financed by the Global Environment Facility;
13. Also encourages the Global Environment Facility to clearly outline in its work programmes how Indigenous Peoples as well as local communities can meaningfully engage in the development of Global Environment Facility programmes and projects and benefit therefrom;
14. Requests the Global Environment Facility, in administering the Least Developed Countries Fund, to continue facilitating the smooth transition of developing countries graduating from least developed country status by continuing to provide approved funding through the Fund until the completion of projects approved by the Least Developed Countries Fund Council prior to those countries’ graduation from least developed country status and also requests the Global Environment Facility to consider developing further measures to help ensure this smooth transition for recently graduated least developed countries;
15. Further requests the Global Environment Facility to continue to support the strengthening of institutional arrangements and the building of capacity in developing countries with a view to facilitating improved access to and use of Global Environment Facility resources, facilitating knowledge-sharing and South–South learning on Global Environment Facility projects and exploring areas for further collaboration;
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