This independent evaluation of the Green Climate Fund’s (GCF) approach to country ownership was approved by the GCF Board as part of the 2025 workplan of the Independent Evaluation Unit (IEU) and is submitted in time for its forty-third meeting (B.43). It finds that, while country ownership is firmly embedded in the GCF’s Governing Instrument and policies, its operationalization remains uneven and fragmented, and makes recommendations to strengthen institutional arrangements and practices to better support country-driven climate action.

The Green Climate Fund’s Simplified Approval Process (SAP) was created to make climate finance more accessible and responsive, thus enabling smaller, lower-risk projects to address urgent climate needs in vulnerable countries. Since its inception, the SAP has evolved through continuous learning and refinement, introducing tools and approaches to strengthen capacity, accelerate procedures, and simplify documentation.

Approved at the fortieth meeting of the GCF Board (B.40), this formative Gender Synthesis consolidates insights from past evaluations, assessments, and studies to inform the forthcoming Independent Evaluation of the GCF’s Gender Approach. The Synthesis examines gender integration at both institutional and project levels, highlighting the Fund’s progress in advancing from a gender-sensitive to a gender-responsive approach under the 2019 Updated Gender Policy and Gender Action Plan.