The Hungarian Government has decided to pledge HUF 1 billion (USD 3.57 million) to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Hungary has been a member of the Board of the Green Climate Fund for three years now, and the national pledge also highlights the county’s commitment to the Fund’s continued efforts.
The GCF is a key institution within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, established as a mechanism to redistribute financial resources from developed to the developing countries to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to fight climate change. A total of 10.2 billion US dollars in pledges have been made to the GCF by 34 donor countries to date. The Fund accumulated the resources required to begin its activities in May 2015 and the Board will decide on funding the first projects before the end of the year.
According to the decision made in Copenhagen in 2009, developed countries agreed to raise 100 billion US dollars in climate funding by 2020 to finance global efforts to build a just, climate-resilient and low-carbon world economy. A new financial institution, the GCF, was founded and tasked with this duty in 2010. The resources will be allocated to promising projects in developing countries.
2015 is an important year in climate change negotiations. In December 2015, heads of state and government will convene in Paris to conclude a new global agreement on climate change under the UNFCCC. One of the most important elements of the agreement between developed and developing countries and of the new treaty will be “climate financing”, which is a crucial means of achieving reduced emissions and improving adaptation. The central element in the realisation of these goals is the Green Climate Fund, whose role is also expected to be reinforced in the upcoming agreement.