Civil society groups caution Green Climate Fund on accountability

Civil Society groups from the North and South have expressed dissatisfaction with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) over accountability.

 “We state that we are not satisfied with the way the GCF Board is engaging the Civil Society and the lack of accessibility and availability to documents is an issue of grave concern,” charged Janet Redman from the Institute of Policy Studies.

The concerns were raised made during the North – South Strategy Meeting held in Bali, Indonesia.

“We need to have greater accountability built on the GCF; structures, processes, consultations and participations, programs, finance and project cycles at the global and national levels. This should be from the start to ensure its success, transparency and building of confidence,” said Prof. Shaddad Mauwa who represented Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).

PACJA is concerned about the corporate capture of the GCF process and the source of the Green Climate Fund.

Lidy Nacpil from the Jubilee South Movement noted that the next two years will be crucial on what the South movements will be doing without permanent commitment and support for the GCF and therefore the need to maintain the option to reject the GCF if it was not shaping up.

However, Meena Reman, the Southern CSOs active observer, raised a concern that the development of the GCF was going on the wrong direction towards the World Bank model and IFS.

“We also note that some GCF board members from the developed countries believe that the GCF is not accountable to the Conference of Parties (COP),” she said.

Commenting on multi-stakeholder engagement, Liane Schalatek from the Heinrich Boll Foundation, UK,  noted that the text produced needed to be much stronger on its emphasis on the process of Multi-stakeholder engagement for which it needed to be built at all levels of engagement and decision making.

 

The meeting has drawn CSOs representatives from North to South who will engage the GCF Board members with a clear strategy developed during the two day strategic meeting.

The GCF Meeting of the board is scheduled to take place from 19^th – 21^st February, 2014 at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center in Bali, Indonesia.