The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was established to support developing countries to take ambitious action on climate change. The flow of climate finance from industrialised to developing countries, particularly via the GCF, is a crucial component of international agreements on climate change. However, capacity constraints and the complex procedures for accessing funding are affecting many developing countries’ ability to compete fairly and effectively for the GCF. This learning paper and brief provide insights from the Action on Climate Today programme in South Asia to improve country ‘readiness’ to access climate finance.

The learning paper presents the ‘demand side’ country perspective on the challenges faced and some of the strategies that countries have employed to overcome them. It presents a framework for strengthening access to the GCF, looking at entry-points and strategies that governments, funders and practitioners can use.