What is Accreditation?
Accreditation is a process designed to assess whether an entity seeking funds is capable of strong financial management and of safeguarding funded projects and programmes against any unforeseen environmental or social harm.
It assesses whether applicant entities have the ability to manage resources in line with the Fund's fiduciary standards for the scale and type of funding sought, as well as the ability to manage environmental and social risks that may arise at the project level.
GCF Accreditation Process
An entity seeking accreditation will need to submit a completed application through GCF Accreditation, consistent with the fit-for-purpose accreditation approach at the Green Climate Fund. This approach recognizes the role of a wide range of entities, which differ in the scope and nature of their activities, as well as their capacities in advancing the objectives of the Fund and contributing towards achieving at least one of the eight strategic impacts of the Fund. The accreditation approach accommodates this diversity by matching the nature, scale, and risk of intended activities to the application of fiduciary standards, environmental and social safeguards, and gender policy.
During the accreditation process, an applicant entity's policies and procedures, track record, and demonstrated capacity to undertake projects or programmes of different financial instruments and environmental or social risk categories are assessed against the standards of the Green Climate Fund. The result of the accreditation process will specify the project or programme activity size; fiduciary functions, which will shape how it operates using the Fund’s resources (grants, loans, equity, and guarantees); and the highest category of environmental and social risk of its intended projects.
Sub national, national, and regional entities, public and private sectors applying for accreditation, will need to submit a nomination letter from a National Designated Authority or Focal Point as a part of their application for accreditation.
Access to GCF resources to undertake climate change projects and programmes is possible for accredited national, regional, and international entities. Accredited Entities (AEs) can submit funding proposals to the Fund at any time. To ensure country ownership, the Fund’s Board will consider only those funding proposals which are submitted with a formal letter of no objection in accordance with the Fund’s initial no-objection procedure.
An AE or an executing entity (i.e. project or programme sponsor) may submit a concept note for feedback and recommendations from the Fund, in consultation with the National Designated Authority or Focal Point. The recommendation will clarify whether the concept is endorsed, not endorsed with a possibility of resubmission, or rejected. In deploying its resources, the Green Climate Fund will work through a wide range of institutions to finance projects and programmes. To access funding, these institutions will go through a process of “accreditation,” designed to assess whether they are capable of strong financial management and of safeguarding funded projects and programmes against any unforeseen environmental or social harm.
Applications for accreditation are received by GCF on a rolling basis. There is no deadline for submitting accreditation applications.
Accredited Entities (AEs) carry out a range of activities that may include developing and submitting funding proposals for, and overseeing the management and implementation of, projects and programmes; deploying a range of financial instruments within their respective capacities (grants, loans, equity, and guarantees); and mobilizing private sector capital.
Access modalities
Accredited Entities are able to access GCF funds directly, internationally or through private sectors as explained below:
Direct access- AEs are able to benefit from direct access to GCF funds if it s already accredited as a national, sub-national or regional implementing entity and intermediaries. These may include government ministries, NGOs, national development banks, and other domestic or regional organizations that can meet the standards of the Fund. A letter of no-objection by the country’s NDA or focal point is also necessary under the country-ownership principle to allow for the accreditation of a direct access entity.
International access- This is whereby the Accredited Entity gets funding through accredited international and regional entities (such as multilateral and regional development banks and UN agencies).
Private sector- Private sector entities can also be accredited as implementing entities or intermediaries.