The 28th meeting of the Green Climate Fund concluded with new fifteen funding proposals requesting US$ 1,197.1 million of GCF funding being approved by the board. The virtual meeting which happened virtually from 16 to 19 March 2021 also focused on some policy matters that were crucial for indigenous peoples like the Updated Accreditation Framework, the Simplified Approval process updates, and the Integrated Results Management Framework.
With two new co-chairs (Jean-Cristophe Donnellier from the French Treasury and Jose De Luna Martinez from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, Mexico), who have both never been to any prior GCF Board meeting, the BM 28, which was webcasted live, has shown how challenging it is for board members to agree on crucial policies of the fund. This resulted to a deadlock on the Integrated Results Management Framework, which seeks to further strengthen the ability of GCF to measure and report the impact of its investments. The same is true for the accreditation of 5 entities, where the board did not reach a decision and will just present a new proposal before the next board meeting.
The civil society, indigenous people and local communities network, raised that the even if the Integrated Results Management Framework T states that it has a clear focus on integrating gender and social inclusion, it is unclear how this is measured in the proposed core indicators since it would entail an understanding of who the excluded groups are as part of a baseline, and as mentioned before, the issue of what kind of baseline is acceptable if not addressed. Additionally, it does not seem to consider the GCF’s Indigenous Peoples Policy as the “Policy linkages'' section of the document leaves out the IP Policy from the otherwise comprehensive list.
The observers to the GCF emphasize that, while the IRMF aims to disaggregate data using parameters such as sex, it must also have data about Indigenous Peoples at least in cases where a project is implemented in Indigenous Peoples’ territory and/or impacting Indigenous Peoples. The GCF secretariat clarifies that the the IRMF tries not to duplicate other GCF policies otherwise, it will lose focus.
Meanwhile, prior to the official dates of the board meeting, the Civil Society, Indigenous Peoples and local communities network met with the executive director and the GCF secretariat. According to the IP Focal point, Ms. Jennifer Rubis, constitution of the Indigenous Peoples’ Advisory Group (IPAG) is going to happen this year as part of the workplan for 2021.
The BM 28 was participated in by the members of the IP Advocacy team including Eileen Cunningham Mairena of the Centre for the Indigenous Peoples' Autonomy and Development (CADPI), who also serves as the active observer for developing countries, Helen Magata of Tebtebba, Stefan Thorsell of the International Work Group on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), and Tunga Rai of the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN).