Green Climate Fund headquarters officially opened

PRESS RELEASE
4 December 2013
GCF-PA.10-13

(Songdo, Incheon City, Republic of Korea, 4 December 2013) – The Green Climate Fund headquarters were officially opened for business today in its new host country, the Republic of Korea.

The Fund has been temporarily hosted until today in Bonn, Germany, but now moves beyond its interim phase with the opening of its permanent headquarters in the innovative G-Tower building in Songdo, Incheon City.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was jointly hosted by Mr. Oh-Seok Hyun, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, Republic of Korea, and Ms. Héla Cheikhrouhou, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund Secretariat, and was attended by global leaders including Mr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and Ms. Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Co-Chair of the Fund’s Board Mr. Jose Maria Sarte Salceda (Philippines) stated: “In the Philippines, we have recently experienced in a painful manner why it is so urgent to act on climate change. I am, therefore, pleased that the Fund is on track to start its resource mobilization next year with a rapid and substantial initial capitalization, so that we can get the money flowing to the countries which are in greatest need. The opening of these headquarters shows that the Fund is getting ready – and now we need the support of the international community so that we can mitigate climate change and adapt to its adverse impacts."

Mr. Manfred Konukiewitz (Germany), the Board’s Co-Chair, said: “We would like to thank the Republic of Korea for its hospitality and for providing the Fund with its permanent home. Today’s ceremony marks the end of the Fund’s interim phase, and the start of the build-up to full operations. The Government of the Republic of Korea is playing its role, and now we are counting on governments and other key actors around the world to do likewise.”

Ms. Héla Cheikhrouhou, Executive Director, stated: “The office opening is both a symbolic and practical demonstration that the Fund is ready for business. The Fund will be a dynamic and innovative driver to combat climate change, so it is highly appropriate that our headquarters will be in a new green building, located in the heart of technologically innovative Songdo.”

Mr. Oh-Seok Hyun, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, Republic of Korea, added: Today, the Green Climate Fund is taking its first historical step. As the host country of the Fund, the Korean government is committed to actively engaging in climate action. What we need now is political will and courage to join this action.”

The Green Climate Fund (the Fund) is a new multilateral fund that was agreed by Parties at the 2010 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference held in Cancun, Mexico, and designated as an operating entity of the Convention’s financial mechanism. The Fund’s Governing Instrument was developed and approved in 2011. The Fund’s purpose is to promote, within the context of sustainable development, the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change

ENDS

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