The Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) was created in 2001 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to help vulnerable nations address negative impacts of climate change. The SCCF finances activities that complement those funded by the GEF climate change focal area and by bilateral and multilateral funding.
This second program evaluation of the SCCF and comes at a time when the availability of resources for programming has stalled. The evaluation assesses progress the SCCF has made since the 2017 program evaluation and provides evaluative evidence of the fund's relevance and emerging results from recently approved and completed projects.
The evaluation also focuses on how the SCCF fits in the changing global climate finance architecture. Through a literature review, project portfolio analysis, and interviews with a wide range of stakeholders, the evaluation finds that the SCCF portfolio has performed well but has been hampered by a near-complete lack of new funding. The evaluation concludes that if the SCCF is to continue, it needs to be reformed and re-energized to attract donor support.
The evaluation was presented to the LDCF/SCCF Council in December 2021. The Council took note of the related evaluation recommendation and endorsed the management response to address it. A summary of the findings and conclusions of the SCCF program evaluation will be submitted as part of the GEF report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 27th Conference of the Parties.