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C O V E RThe Green Climate Fund was established at the Cancun climatechange conference in 2010 (pic).sector), and the location ofthe transitional secretariatof the Fund.The decision concerningthe GCF was one of theoutcomes of the so-called‘Durban package’ and wasthe subject of intense negotiations,given that the reportof the TransitionalCommittee, which includedthe governing instrument,was transmitted to the COPwithout consensus by theChairs of the TC.The United States andSaudi Arabia, as membersof the TC, had withheldconsensus on the adoption of the reportin the final meeting of the TC inOctober, while several developingcountryTC members had also expressedconcerns over many parts ofthe GCF instrument.At the plenary session of the COPon 30 November, the developingcountryGroup of 77 and China calledfor an open, transparent and inclusiveprocess through a contact group todraft the decision necessary for theCOP in relation to the GCF.South African COP President,Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, proposedconducting informal consultationsbased on the report of the TC, whichled to negotiations over the draft decision.Parties through intense negotiationsarrived at a near-consensus overthe draft decision on 8 December,except over a key issue as to who isto host the interim secretariat of theGCF.The options on the table were: (i)the UNFCCC secretariat, (ii) the GlobalEnvironment Facility secretariat(GEF), or (iii) the UN Office in Geneva.The G77 and China rejected theGEF secretariat as an option, whiledeveloped countries were insistingotherwise.Following intense wrangling, acompromise was reached at ministerial-levelinformal consultations on 10December for the UNFCCC secretariatjointly with the GEF secretariatto take the necessary administrativeFollowing intense negotiations, the Durban meeting agreed to set up the interimsecretariat of the Green Climate Fund as an autonomous unit within the UNFCCCsecretariat premises in Bonn (pic).steps to set up the interimsecretariat of the GCF as anautonomous unit within theUNFCCC secretariatpremises in Bonn.Another issue that becamethe subject of muchsquabbling was the issue ofhow the GCF is to have legalpersonality and legal capacity.Parties managed toarrive at an agreement overthis, which is reflected inparagraphs 11 and 12 of thedecision (see box for the textof the decision).A further issue of concernfor many developingcountries was the provision in thegoverning instrument in paragraph 46that allowed the private sector to directlyaccess the GCF funds withoutthe need for their funding proposalsto be approved by the national designatedauthorities.Paragraph 46 of the governinginstrument reads: ‘Recipient countriesmay designate a national authority.This national designated authoritywill recommend to the Board [of theGCF] funding proposals in the contextof national climate strategies andplans, including through consultationprocesses. The national designated authoritieswill be consulted on otherfunding proposals for considerationprior to submission to the Fund toensure consistency with national climatestrategies and plans.’Following negotiations in Durban,this concern was addressed withthe following compromise in paragraph7 of the decision which reads:‘[The COP] requests the Board to developa transparent no-objection procedureto be conducted through nationaldesignated authorities referredto in paragraph 46 of the governinginstrument, in order to ensure consistencywith national climate strategiesand plans and a country driven approachand to provide for effectivedirect and indirect public and privatesector financing by the Green ClimateFund. Further requests the Board todetermine this procedure prior to approvalof funding proposals by theFund.’ÿuTHIRD WORLD RESURGENCE No 255/25642