The criteria for accessing SCCF funds are elaborated in the “Programming to Implement the Guidance for the Special Climate Change Fund Adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Ninth Session” (GEF/C.24/12) .

These papers were drafted in response to COP guidance from COP7 (Decision7/CP.7), and were approved by the GEF Council, as per documents publicly available on the GEF website.

The criteria used to determine which programs and activities receive funds are therefore established by the guidance received from the COP and approved by the LDCF/SCCF Council. Such programs and activities, when submitted to the GEF under the SCCF, must adhere to those rules in order to receive funding.

In brief, the overarching criteria for granting funds under the SCCF are the extent to which the proposed project responds to (a) the eligibility criteria as spelled out under the Programming Papers for SCCF as mentioned above, and (b) the priorities in the NAPAs, the National Communications and other regional programs, and national programs, plans and other documentation the non-Annex I countries are required to provide to the COP on country’s vulnerability to climate change.

The processes for deriving NAPAs and NCs are highly consultative and in the case of NAPAs, the prioritization process relies on the following criteria (as per Decision 28/CP.7): “Criteria for selecting priority activities...15. A set of locally-driven criteria will be used to select priority adaptation activities. These criteria should include, inter alia: (a) Level or degree of adverse effects of climate change; (b) Poverty reduction to enhance adaptive capacity; (c) Synergy with other multilateral environmental agreements; (d) Cost-effectiveness. 16.These criteria for prioritization will be applied to, inter alia: (a) Loss of life and livelihood; (b) Human health; (c) Food security and agriculture; (d) Water availability, quality and accessibility; (e) Essential infrastructure; (f) Cultural heritage; (g) Biological diversity; (h) Land-use management and forestry; (i) Other environmental amenities; (j) Coastal zones, and associated loss of land.”

The templates that are used for applying for SCCF funding reflect these in a compressed format for practical reasons, and the project proposals are judged according to the criteria explained in the relevant SCCF documents as previously discussed.

A full sized project is posted online for the Council review both during the PIF (project concept) stage, and CEO Endorsement (Full Project Document) review stage. The approval process for the projects constitutes approval of justifications stated within project documents. While the project review sheets for individual projects are internal documents, project documents are publicly available from the GEF Project Database. In addition, comments from countries, STAP, and/or the UNFCCC Secretariat are publicly available for SCCF PIF stage and CEO Endorsement Stage, if any, here.

The GEF utilizes its financing rules and procedures, structure, standards and project cycle to operate as a controlling mechanism to elicit compliance with Climate Convention guidance as well as the GEF financial fiduciary standards and those of the international organizations that are GEFs Implementing Agencies (including country drivenness, replicability, ecological and financial sustainability, stakeholder participation, transparency, and accountability, among others).