Independent Assessment of the GCF's Environmental and Social Safeguards System

2022 - 2022

The purpose of this assignment was to assess GCF’s Environmental and Social Safeguards [ESS], including the Environmental and Social Management System [ESMS] of the GCF.

The evaluation had three main objectives. The first was to assess the extent to which the GCF is effectively preventing, mitigating and managing potential adverse environmental and social impacts of GCF-funded projects. The second was to assess the extent to which the GCF is effectively promoting environmental, social, economic and development co-benefits, and taking a gender-sensitive approach, by replacing the traditional “do no harm” approach with a “do good” approach. The third was to assess how well the GCF is monitoring and reporting on environmental and social impacts and co-benefits. The evaluation examined four key parts of the GCF. These include the GCF’s current interim ESS standards and policies; GCF processes and operations with a focus on accreditation, the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme (RPSP) and the Project Preparation Facility (PPF); GCF investment design and approval processes; and project implementation and its likely environmental and social results.