Special Climate Change Fund

The SCCF has the objective of financing activities complementary to those funded within the GEF's climate change focal area and by bilateral and multilateral funding. In its decision (7/CP7), COP 7 determined that the SCCF should serve as a catalyst to leverage additional resources from bilateral and other multilateral sources. It designated four areas of action:

• adaptation,
• transfer of technologies,
• energy, transport, industry, agriculture, forestry and waste management,
• activities to assist those developing country Parties that depend greatly on fossil fuels in diversifying their economies.

COP 9 decided that adaptation activities were to have top priority for funding and that technology transfer and associated capacity-building should be the other essential area for the SCCF (decision 5/CP.9). COP 9 did not develop the other two areas of action but launched a further consultation process.

Following guidance from COP 9 on the SCCF, the GEF Council approved a programme outlining plans for using SCCF resources. COP 9 reaffirmed the relevant provisions of decision 5/CP.7 on the funding of adaptation activities, in decision 5/CP.9. This included support for:

• prompt implementation of adaptation activities in areas such as water resources management; land management; agriculture; infrastructure development; fragile ecosystems; and integrated coastal zone management;
• monitoring, related forecasting and the development of early warning systems to improve the control and prevention of disease related to climate change;
• capacity-building to address disasters related to climate change, including contingency planning and preparedness; and
• national and regional centres and information networks for rapid response to extreme weather events.

The same decision outlined the following priority areas for technology transfer activities, in accordance with decision 4/CP.7:

• implementation of the results of technology needs assessments;
• technology information;
• capacity-building;
• enabling environments.

By the same decision, COP 9 invited the GEF to mobilize resources to put the fund into operation without delay.

In 2004, COP 10 welcomed the outcome of the first pledging meeting of potential donors to the SCCF; nine donors had pledged a total of US$34.6 million, of which US$33 million were allocated to adaptation. It urged the GEF to continue its efforts to mobilize additional resources to support the implementation of eligible activities under the SCCF, while continuing to ensure financial separation between the SCCF and the other funds it operated. The Parties could not reach agreement on additional guidance to the GEF for the operation of the SCCF at COP 10. As the discussion on this item was not concluded either at SBI 22 (May 2005) or at SBI 23 (November-December 2005), it was to be further discussed at SBI 24 (May 2006). As of June 2006, the total receipts to the SCCF amounted to US$36.7 million, of which the GEF Council earmarked US$34 million for adaptation and US$2.7 million for technology transfer.