The South Korea-based Green Climate Fund has channelled $3.26bn to developing countries in 2025, setting a new record.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board has approved a record volume of climate finance for developing countries, greenlighting 22 new projects for climate action around the world. The $1.332bn total is the largest amount approved at a GCF board meeting and brings the year’s total to 43.26 billion, a new high surpassing the previous record of $2.9 billion in 2021.

Ten years after approving its first projects in November 2015 and a decade since the Paris Agreement was adopted, GCF now has a portfolio of 336 projects amounting to $19.3bn in GCF resources, $78.7bn when expected co-financing is included.

The adaptation projects will benefit some of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, mainly targeting Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and African States, whilst mitigation and cross-cutting projects will bring significant emission reductions through renewable energy, reforestation and land-use, and energy efficiency.

Co-chair Leif Holmberg from Sweden said: “I am delighted that in our tenth year of programming; the board has approved a record annual portfolio demonstrating its commitment to accelerating climate action. This achievement reflects how the Fund is delivering on its major reform agenda to increase access to finance and results for climate action. Several of the approved projects will mobilise substantial private sector finance, providing clear evidence of GCF’s ability to catalyse additional resources in an era that requires more creative approaches to climate finance.”

GCF works through a network of over 158 partner agencies with projects in 134 countries. This global network includes 106 regional and national entities from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, as well as international financial institutions such as multilateral development banks, UN agencies, and commercial banks.

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