Songdo, March 16: Representatives for UNDP and GCF have signed a new Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA) launching another 5 years of partnership to deliver vital climate finance to countries in critical decade for action. The AMA is the central instrument which sets out the terms and conditions for the use of GCF resources and formalizes UNDP’s accountability in carrying out GCF-approved projects. The agreement was signed by Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, UNDP’s Director and Executive Coordinator of Environmental Finance, and Carolina Fuentes, Director of GCF's Country Programming Division. UNDP signed its first AMA with the GCF in 2017 covering a five-year period of partnership from 2017-2021. This second AMA now extends UNDP’s accreditation for another five-years from 2023-2027.  

“This agreement allows UNDP to scale up its support to some of the most vulnerable countries in the world,” said Haoliang Xu, Assistant Administrator and Director of Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP. “We will work with our partner countries to design and implement innovative and impactful projects for urgent climate action. This agreement will bolster climate finance and is vitally important for our partnership with the GCF.”    

“GCF is delighted to sign this agreement with the UNDP," said Henry Gonzalez, GCF Deputy Executive Director.  “We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with UNDP to remove investment barriers in countries and communities in urgent need of transformative support to respond to the climate crisis.”  

UNDP’s support for nations in accessing GCF finance focuses on adaptation and mitigation funding proposals, readiness and national adaptation planning, simplified approval process, and project preparation facility. It also builds the capacity of national entities to more effectively deliver climate actions and reach Nationally Determined Contributions outlined in the Paris Agreement, and ensure effective integration with interconnected planetary crises, including Biodiversity Loss.  

UNDP first received GCF accreditation in March 2015 and was the first UN Agency to receive GCF accreditation.