Policy, research and evaluation

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.01-13/08 Modalities for Readiness and Preparatory Support,

1. Adopted the scope of further work on the modalities for readiness and preparatory support set out in Annex XIX of document GCF/B.01-13/08;

2. Decided to explore options for making short-term progress on readiness, including, given the availability of resources, to initiate work on operationalising a readiness phase, including on:

   1. identifying and engaging with existing initiatives and programmes on readiness and preparatory support in order to enhance learning and ensuring coherence, including a possible workshop;

   2. identifying short-term initiatives to support readiness and preparatory support;

   3. assessing available information on readiness and preparatory support needs and gaps;

3. Invited countries to provide additional resources to the administrative budget of the Fund.

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.05/14 Modalities for Readiness and Preparatory Support:

1. Reaffirms that Fund‐related readiness and preparatory support is a strategic priority for the Fund to enhance country ownership and access during the early stages of its operationalization, and may help countries to meet the Fund’s objectives;

2. Decides that the Fund will provide readiness and preparatory support to: (i) Enable the preparation of country programmes providing for low‐emission, climate‐resilient development strategies or plans; (ii) Support and strengthen in‐country, Fund‐related institutional capacities, including for country coordination and multi‐stakeholder consultation mechanisms as it relates to the establishment and operation of national designated authorities and country focal points (iii) Enable implementing entities and intermediaries to meet the Fund’s fiduciary principles and standards, and environmental and social safeguards, in order to directly access the Fund;

3. Notes the importance of engaging with existing readiness initiatives and programmes at international, national and regional levels to enhance learning and ensure coherence, and mandates the Secretariat to play a leading coordinating role in this regard

The Board, having considered document GCF/B.06/14 Detailed Programme of Work on Readiness and Preparatory Support:

(a) Takes note of the priority activities for readiness and preparatory support:

(i) Establishment of national designated authorities or focal points;

(ii) Strategic frameworks, including the preparation of country programmes;

(iii) Selection of intermediaries or implementing entities;

(iv) Initial pipelines of programme and project proposals;

(b) Requests the Secretariat to elaborate a revised detailed programme of work, for consideration by the Board at its seventh meeting, that includes the following:

(i) Readiness activities to be undertaken in countries based on requests for support resulting from a consultation with countries and stakeholders;

(ii) A delivery plan for the implementation of these readiness activities. The delivery plan will be developed in consultation with countries and existing initiatives. It will include a timeline and modalities for implementation;

(iii) Options for entering into partnerships with existing initiatives, including of sub-national, national, regional and international actors, in order to implement the readiness activities supported by the Fund;

(c) Decides from the resources available or to be made available in the Green Climate Fund Trust Fund, the allocation of funds in the amount of US$ 1 million to the Secretariat for the preparation of a detailed programme of work and authorizes the Interim Trustee to commit and transfer such funds from the Green Climate Fund Trust Fund to the Secretariat, subject to the availability of resources in the Green Climate Fund Trust Fund;

(d) Requests the Secretariat to seek transparency, complementarity, and coherence amongst existing initiatives, and to establish and maintain an information-sharing

platform and dialogue and facilitate South-South exchanges;

(e) Requests the Secretariat to review the modalities for the delivery of readiness support once the Fund’s accreditation and allocation policies are approved, with a view of

ensuring consistency with the other established operational modalities of the Fund, for consideration by the Board;

(f) Requests the Executive Director to report to the Board twice a year on:

(i) Activities undertaken, including joint activities with existing initiatives;

(ii) The progress of committing and disbursing available funds.

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.08/10 Revised Programme of Work on Readiness and Preparatory Support, and in alignment with decisions B.05/14 and B.06/06:

(a) Reaffirms that Fund-related readiness and preparatory support is a strategic priority for the Fund to enhance country ownership and access during the early stages of its operationalization, and may help countries to meet the Fund’s objectives;

(b) Takes note of the overview of national designated authority (NDA) or focal point designations and requests for readiness support presented in Annex XV;

(c) Recalls that, in accordance with decision B.06/11, the Secretariat shall report in detail twice a year on activities undertaken by the readiness and preparatory support programme, and the progress of committing and disbursing available funds;

Allocation

(d) Recalls decision B.05/14 paragraph (d) (iii);

(e) Decides that all developing countries will have access to readiness support and that the Fund will aim for a floor of 50% of the readiness support allocation to particularly vulnerable countries, including small island developing States, least developed countries and African States;

(f) Also decides that readiness commitments to individual developing member countries will be capped at US$ 1 million per calendar year;

(g) Affirms that readiness requests will be assessed to ensure complementarity with existing readiness activities, if any;

(h) Decides that this interim readiness funding allocation system will be reviewed in 2016, taking into consideration the bi-annual reporting referred to in paragraph (c);

Objectives and activities

(i) Decides that the core objectives of the readiness programme shall be consistent with the Governing Instrument and prior Board and Conference of the Parties (COP) decisions.

Readiness funding will be used to support the indicative activities listed in Annex XVI, and in accordance with decision B.08/10, and will include:

(i) Supporting the NDA or focal point in accordance with decision B.08/10, to engage with regional, national and sub-national government, civil society and private sector stakeholders with regard to the priorities of the Fund, taking a gender sensitive approach;

(ii) Developing strategic frameworks for national engagement with the Fund (including country programmes, in accordance with decision B.08/10 and decision B.07/03 (initial proposal approval process), building on existing strategies and plans, including low-emission development strategies, Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions, National Adaptation Plans, and National Adaptation Programmes of Action. Annex XVII provides initial general guidelines for the preparation of country programmes;

(iii) Enabling regional, national and sub-national institutions to meet the accreditation standards of the Fund, including for the fast-track accreditation process in coordination with the NDA or focal point; and

(iv) Supporting the development of initial pipelines of programme and project proposals, including the identification of appropriate financial instruments, that are aligned with the objectives and initial investment framework of the Fund and that will support a paradigm shift to low-emission and climate-resilient development;

(j) Decides that progress in meeting these objectives will be subject to an independent evaluation after two years to assess lessons learned;

(k) Also decides that the Fund can provide up to US$ 300,000 of direct support to help establish an NDA or focal point and meet the costs of delivering on the Fund’s requirements for activities in accordance with Annex XVIII on the basis of needs and actual demand;

(l) Further decides that the Fund, in coordination with and with the approval of the relevant NDA(s) or focal point(s), will:

(i) Deploy readiness funding to potential sub-national, national or regional implementing entities (IEs) and intermediaries who wish to be accredited to the Fund, consistent with the fit-for-purpose accreditation approach of the Fund; and

(ii) Prepare sub-national, national, and regional IEs and intermediaries to apply for accreditation;

(m) Decides that the Fund, in close coordination with the relevant NDA(s) or focal point(s), will deploy readiness funding to accredited IEs or intermediaries to develop project and programme pipelines, consistent with the Fund’s objectives;

(n) Requests the Private Sector Advisory Group to provide recommendations for the deployment of readiness funding aimed at fostering private sector engagement in climate change financing and activities;

(o) Decides that, from the resources available or to be made available in the GCF Trust Fund, US$ 15 million is to be made available for the execution of the readiness and preparatory support programme, and authorizes the Interim Trustee to commit and transfer such funds from the GCF Trust Fund to the Secretariat subject to the availability of resources, with a view to making available a further US$ 14 million after reviewing the bi-annual report referred to in paragraph (c) above;

Modalities and approach

(p) Decides that all deployment of readiness and preparatory support funding will be led by the NDA or focal point. The NDA or focal point will either be the direct beneficiary of readiness support funding and/or will select delivery partners, including international organizations, and other international, regional, national and sub-national, public or private institutions well-versed in readiness activities. The delivery partners will have to demonstrate relevant expertise, experience, and ability to implement. This process will be supported by the Secretariat and the disbursement of funds will be based on agreed milestones;

(q) Requests the Secretariat to coordinate, collaborate, and enter into partnerships, where appropriate, through framework cooperation agreements such as Memorandums of Understanding, with other national, regional and international institutions involved in the delivery of readiness support. This may include, inter alia, information-sharing and multistakeholder dialogues, to maximize complementarity and coherence with existing readiness initiatives. At national level, these efforts will be undertaken in coordination with the NDA or focal point;

(r) Decides that funding proposals for readiness support will have information on the objectives, activities, outputs, implementation approach, and estimated costs. Each activity will be monitored using appropriate indicators;

(s) Requests that results, emerging lessons learned and global experiences of the programme be included in the bi-annual report referred to in paragraph (c) above;

(t) Further decides that readiness support will be implemented in conformity with the administrative policies of the Fund, including its procurement guidelines, and will address any conflicts of interest; and

(u) Decides that, after reviewing the bi-annual report referred to in paragraph (c) above, the Board may authorize the allocation of additional funds for the execution of additional approved readiness and preparatory support activities.

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.11/06 titled “Readiness programme implementation (progress report)”:

(a) Takes note of the information presented in document GCF/B.11/06;

(b) Reaffirms that readiness and preparatory support is a priority for the GCF in order to enhance country ownership, ensure a strong pipeline and provide sustained support for building institutional capacity to enable direct access, and emphasizes that the execution of the readiness programme should take into account different national circumstances;

(c) Recalls that, in accordance with decision B.08/11, paragraph (j), progress in meeting the objectives of the readiness and preparatory support programme will be subject to an independent evaluation;

(d) Underscores the importance of significantly increasing the approval and timely disbursement of resources to support developing countries in undertaking country programming processes, and strengthening national institutions from the public and private sectors to access the GCF and to build country programmes and pipelines;

(e) Requests the Secretariat, in consultation with national designated authorities and focal points and readiness delivery partners, to present to the Board at its twelfth meeting a proposal to improve and simplify the process to access funds for country programming and readiness and preparatory support;

(f) Decides that an additional USD 14 million is to be made available for the execution of the readiness and preparatory support programme, including the activities referred to in paragraphs (b–c) above;

(g) Reaffirms that the GCF, through its readiness and preparatory support programme, in coordination with other programmes and channels, may support a voluntary country driven national adaptation planning process in accordance with paragraph 40 of the Governing Instrument and decision B.08/11;

(h) Decides to review the interim readiness funding allocation system at its twelfth meeting, in accordance with decision B.08/11, paragraph (h);

(i) Requests the Secretariat to present for consideration by the Board at its twelfth meeting a revised allocation system for readiness and preparatory support taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries and in line with decision B.06/06; and

(j) Also requests that the revised allocation system for readiness and preparatory support includes an information note on how the GCF can support developing countries in their voluntary national adaptation planning processes, including activities the funds can be used for.

The Board, having reviewed document GCF/B.12/Inf.06 titled “Progress and outlook report of the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme,

(a) Requests the Secretariat to prepare a document for consideration by the Board at its thirteenth meeting, which identifies alternative arrangements to readiness grant agreements aimed at disbursing readiness grants, including those outlined in annex VI to document GCF/B.12/Inf.06, and also identifies obstacles faced by countries;

(b) Requests the Secretariat to provide advance payments up to a limit of USD 50,000 to countries or their delivery partners that have signed readiness grant agreements where, in the judgement of the Secretariat, lengthy domestic processes are required to conclude the agreement, until a decision is taken regarding paragraph (a) above;

(c) Decides to defer its consideration of the review of the resource allocation of the readiness programme until its thirteenth meeting, in accordance with decision B.11/04,paragraph

(h), and decision B.08/11, paragraph (h);

(d) Requests the Co‐Chairs to undertake consultations with the Board, national designated authorities, focal points, accredited entities and delivery partners to present a recommendation based on paragraph (c) above, for consideration by the Board at its thirteenth meeting;

(e) Decides to defer the consideration of the improvement and simplification of the process to access the readiness programme, as mandated in decision B.11/04, to its thirteenth meeting;

(f) Requests the Co‐Chairs to undertake consultations with the Board, national designated authorities, focal points, accredited entities and delivery partners, and to present a recommendation on paragraph (e) above for consideration by the Board at its thirteenth meeting;

(g) Decides to amend decision B.08/11, annex XVIII, section 1.1, paragraph (a), by replacing the words "two‐year period" with "one‐year period"; decision B.08/11, annex XVIII, section

1.1, paragraph (d)(i), first bullet point by replacing the words "two‐year" with "one‐year", and decision B.08/11, annex XVIII, section 1.2, (a)(iv) by replacing limitations (i) and (ii) with "an annual cap of USD 100,000 for stakeholder meetings";

(h) Requests the Secretariat to present, for consideration by the Board at its thirteenth meeting, a proposal on the activities to be covered by the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme in relation to support for accredited direct access entities. The proposal may include building their capacities in areas related to adaptation, mitigation, environmental and social safeguards, gender, and monitoring and evaluation. The proposal should take into account lessons learned about the accreditation process from the experiences of direct access entities;

(i) Also requests the Secretariat, in consultation with the Co‐Chairs, to present the Country ownership guidelines as referred to in decision B.10/10, paragraph (d), for consideration by the Board at its thirteenth meeting; and

(j) Also requests the Secretariat, in its progress report to the Board, to include updates on the regional workshops to be organized, on the development of regional hubs, on strengthening expertise in regions to support countries, and an overview of activities being undertaken by readiness partners.

The Board, having considered document GCF/B.13/24 titled “Progress and outlook report of the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme”,

Reaffirms the resource allocation framework for the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme as contained in decision B.08/11;

(b) Also reaffirms decision B.06/06 on the initial parameters and guidelines for allocating resources during the initial phase of the GCF, that decided that sufficient resources should

be provided for readiness and preparatory support activities;

(c) Further reaffirms the important role of the GCF Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme in the development of country programming frameworks;

(d) Welcomes the simplification of the readiness support template and encourages the Secretariat to continue to expedite the approval and disbursement of readiness and

preparatory support resources;

(e) Adopts the revised indicative list of activities that can be supported by the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme as contained in annex VII;

(f) Requests the Secretariat to present, in their report to the Board at its fourteenth meeting, analysis of the challenges identified so far in the effective and efficient implementation of

the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme, and an assessment of actions taken as well as progress achieved to date on the implementation and outcomes of approved

readiness activities;

(g) Notes difficulties that have been encountered in the conclusion of readiness grant agreements;

(h) Agrees to simplify the readiness grant agreement with a view to developing an arrangement for country programme framework agreements in order to expedite the

disbursement of readiness resources;

(i) Decides that the terms of the accreditation master agreement template may not be applicable to the readiness programme; and

(j) Amends decision B.12/31, paragraph (h), to add the following sentence: “Paragraph 7(b) of Exhibit A of the accreditation master agreement shall not apply to readiness delivery partners that have immunities under international law”.

The Board, having considered document GCF/B.18/07 titled “Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme: progress report”:

(a) Notes the request for additional budget allocation for the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme for 2017 and 2018 to enable the continued processing and approval

of readiness proposals, including for national adaptation planning and/or other adaptation planning processes;

(b) Requests the Secretariat to implement immediate measures to address the quality issues identified in the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme progress report;

(c) Agrees to conclude expeditiously the terms of reference for the independent evaluation of the programme by adopting a decision as soon as possible in between the eighteenth and

nineteenth meetings of the Board, with an aim to initiate and conclude the evaluation by the twenty-first meeting of the Board, while reporting on the progress thereof at the

twentieth meeting;

(d) Approves that the amount of USD 50 million be made available for the execution of the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme to address immediate requests for the

funding of national adaptation planning and/or other adaptation planning processes; and

(e) Requests the Secretariat to present a revised work programme for the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme, including a request for funding for 2018, for the Board’s consideration at its nineteenth meeting, based on the outcome of the initial review by the Secretariat of the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme.

The Board, having considered document GCF/B.22/03 titled “Independent Evaluation of the Green Climate Fund’s Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme (RPSP) − Final Report” and its Add.01 titled “Secretariat management response”:

(a) Takes note of the findings and recommendations presented in the report by the Independent Evaluation Unit;

(b) Also takes note of the Secretariat management response to the report of the Independent Evaluation Unit contained in GCF/B.22/03/Add.01;

(c) Welcomes that the Secretariat has incorporated recommendations from the evaluation report by the Independent Evaluation Unit into its revised workplan and presented it at the twenty-second meeting of the Board; and

(d) Recommends that the Secretariat report on the implementation of the recommendations in subsequent Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme reports.

The Board, having considered document GCF/B.22/08 titled “Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme: Strategy for 2019−2021 and Work Programme 2019”:

(a) Reaffirms that the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme is a strategic priority for the GCF to enhance country ownership and access to the GCF;

(b) Takes note of the document and the proposed work programme for 2019 as contained in section VII of document GCF/B.22/08;

(c) Notes that the revision to the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme as mandated by decision B.19/15, paragraph (f) is based on the outcome of the conclusions of the Secretariat’s initial review and of the independent evaluation of the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme;

(d) Recalls decision B.08/11, paragraph (g), and reaffirms that readiness requests will be assessed to ensure complementarity with existing readiness activities;

(e) Welcomes the proposed Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme Strategy for 2019–2021;

(f) Adopts the objectives and outcomes for the revised Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme, as contained in annex IV;

(g) Reaffirms that countries can continue to access resources through the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme in accordance with decision B.13/09 and decision B.13/32;

(h) Encourages national designated authorities and delivery partners to develop multiple-year strategic readiness requests as described in annex V;

(i) Decides that the Secretariat may accept multiple-year readiness requests, allocating up to USD 3 million for three years, while committing no more than USD 1 million per country per year, which is in addition to the national adaptation plans and/or other adaptation planning processes allocation as referred to in paragraph (g) above and in accordance with decision B.13/09, paragraph (f)

The Board decision will be published in the next board meeting at B.38.