Green Climate Fund one step closer
October 10th the fifth board meeting of the Green Climate Fund took place, this time in Paris. The Green Climate Fund is an international fund set up and commissioned by the United Nations in order to help developing countries combatting the negative effects of climate change. Possibly, developing countries are granted with an amount of $100 billion a year! Although the financial support is very promising, opinions differ widely on how that money should be spent. Therefore Anouk Franck and Annelieke Duma of Both ENDS attended, along with Titi Soentoro of the Indonesian organization Aksi! and Jorge Daneri of M'Bigua from Argentina, to make sure that the money gets where it is most needed.
Tensions
At the first meeting in August 2012 it was expected that the fund would be up and running in 2014. Unfortunately, that is not the case. "It is a complicated and difficult process,” says Annelieke. "During this meeting, discussions were often tense and sometimes emotional. There are large differences between the board members, especially between the 12 members representing the donor countries (including the Netherlands and Denmark) and the 12 board members representing the interests of recipient countries. The biggest obstacle is that, while donors first want the assurance that their money is well spent, recipient countries ask donors to have more confidence and first provide them with sufficient financial support “otherwise the fund remains an empty shell”.
Concrete action
Yet, according to Annelieke, there is enough reason to keep up the faith in the Green Climate Fund. "All members of the board feel the need to jointly take decisive action. Therefore, various decisions are taken during the board meeting. Unfortunately, we do not favor all decisions that are made, but fortunately progress is made in various fields. To begin with, the proposal made by the Netherlands to see whether and how gender equality can be operationalized, is unanimously adopted by all members of the board. In practice, this means that women should be actively involved in the decision-making process on the financial resources that are used to combat climate change. Also, female entrepreneurs promoting renewable energy should be given easier access to these finance resources. Furthermore, another positive decision is that recipient countries will receive assistance in order to enable them to meet the transparency criteria set by the Green Climate Fund intended to include all stakeholders in setting the national priorities.
Who decides what happens to the money?
"This is very important for us: if the fund truly wants to be groundbreaking, then the receiving countries need to have a say in how the money is spent. Not solely governments but also local authorities, NGO’s and other local actors need to have a say in this. Especially on local level, there are many good ideas on how to invest in the environment efficiently. For this reason we were very disappointed in the conditions for access that were set by the board. The board has decided to introduce
so-called 'National Designated Authorities' ( NDAs ), which in our opinion should
play an important role in committing all stakeholders to a dialogue about spending the money. But these authorities are unfortunately not subject to conditions that ensure that they will be capable to act like this. Also disappointing is the process that is proposed to set accreditation criteria and safeguards. This process is totally not transparent and not open to civil society organizations and others."
Results in practice
Both ENDS will follow the Green Climate Fund critically and work hard on concrete proposals to get funding for local actors. And we continue to support our Southern partners to push the dialogue in their own country." Because that's what it is really all about", emphasizes Annelieke. "In those countries, the positive effects of the Green Climate Fund have to become visible."
Jorge Daneri of the Argentine organization M'Bigua attended with Anouk and Annelieke in Paris and wrote an article for an Argentine newsblog:
More on our Green Climate Fund:
Photo: Marie José vd Werff- ten Bosch: Regreening Niger
Read more about this subject
-
News / 27 oktober 2026Both ENDS at COP31: Locally led climate finance and ending investment rules that block climate action
At COP31, Both ENDS advocates for climate finance that reaches women-led and community-based organisations at the forefront of climate action, while challenging the economic rules that obstruct the transition away from fossil fuels. Together with partners in the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA) and the PAPeS programme, we push for locally led adaptation, gender-just climate action and greater accountability for governments and companies.
We asked our colleagues Daan Robben and Fernando Hernandez why they are going to COP31, what messages they want to bring to negotiators, and what a positive outcome would look like.
-
News / 25 oktober 2026Meet Sarah Adongo: “The soil remembers those who cry and defend it”
By Sarah Adongo, Lawyer, Witness Radio, Uganda
Sarah Adongo is one of the three winners of the 2026 Irene Dankelman Young Ecofeminist Award, presented on 21 October at the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia. A lawyer working with Witness Radio Uganda, Sarah works with women affected by gender-based violence and communities affected by land dispossession and large-scale investments. In this piece, she shares what the award means to her and why gender and environmental justice must go hand in hand.
-
Dossier /The JWH Initiative: supporting young environmental leaders
The JWH Initiative aims to stimulate leadership of young people in environmental organisations by giving small grants to individuals to expand their knowledge, experience and training.
-
News / 25 oktober 2026Meet Yemi Knight: “Your experience is expertise”
By Yemi Knight (they/them), Founder and Executive Director, AnchorBridge Environmental Inc., Barbados
Yemi Knight is one of the three winners of the 2026 Irene Dankelman Young Ecofeminist Award, presented on 21 October at the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia. Yemi founded AnchorBridge Environmental, a youth-led organisation that combines policy advocacy with climate education across the Caribbean. We asked them what the award means to them, what they are working on, and what they would tell other young ecofeminist leaders.
Yemi is also part of the network of the Joke Waller-Hunter Initiative, powered by Both ENDS. With a JWH grant, Yemi followed courses in Social, Environmental and Economic Impact Assessment and in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campusc, as well as a Level 1A Spanish course at the Centre for Language Learning at the university’s St. Augustine Campus.
-
Dossier /Trade agreements
International trade agreements often have far-reaching consequences not only for the economy of a country, but also for people and the environment. It is primarily the most vulnerable groups who suffer most from these agreements.
-
Dossier /International trade and investment with respect for people and planet
The network of international trade and investment treaties is large and complex. The Netherlands alone has signed more than 70 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and is party to the trade and investment agreements concluded by the EU, like the EU-Mercosur and EU-Indonesia trade deals.
-
Dossier /Rights for People, Rules for Corporations – Stop ISDS!
Indigenous communities in Paraguay saw their attempts to regain their ancestral lands thwarted by German investors. In Indonesia, US-based mining companies succeeded to roll back new laws that were meant to boost the country’s economic development and protect its forests. This is the level of impact that investment treaties can have on social, environmental and economic development and rights. Why? Because of the ‘Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement’ clauses that are included in many such treaties.
-
News / 15 oktober 2026ISDS infringement complaint filed with the European Commission
The Netherlands and Portugal join four other EU countries facing such a complaint.
-
Press release / 15 oktober 2026Dutch and Portuguese organisations file EU complaint over investment treaties that let companies and sanctioned Russian oligarchs sue EU countries for compensation
The Netherlands and Portugal join four other EU countries facing such a complaint, as the Global Days of Action against Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) begin.
-
Dossier /Dare to Trust: the power of unconditional funding
At Both ENDS we cherish our long-term relationships with partners in our global network. These relationships are based on equality and built on trust. The trust we have in each other has developed from years of strategic cooperation, including joint advocacy around common agendas, knowledge sharing, networking, and mobilising and sharing resources to advance environmental justice.
-
Dossier /Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA)
GAGGA rallies the collective power of the women's rights and environmental justice movements to realize a world where women can and do access their rights to water, food security, and a clean, healthy and safe environment.
-
News / 5 oktober 2026Rural Women's Assembly wins Right Livelihood Award
We are thrilled to share that our partner the Rural Women's Assembly (RWA) is one of this year's Right Livelihood Laureates! The award, often called the "Alternative Nobel Prize", honours RWA for bringing together more than 178,000 women farmers in eleven Southern African countries. Together, these women stand up for their land, their seeds and their right to make decisions about their own lives and bodies.
-
News / 29 september 2026Summary - Both ENDS complaint under the EU-New Zealand trade agreement
On 29 September 2026, Both ENDS lodged the first complaint on climate grounds with the European Commission's Single Entry Point. It asks the Commission to examine whether Aotearoa New Zealand has broken two promises both sides made in the EU-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement: not to weaken or set aside environmental laws in order to encourage trade or investment, and to effectively implement the Paris Agreement.
-
Publication / 29 september 2026
-
Publication / 29 september 2026
-
News / 29 september 2026Q&A: New Zealand's climate rollback and the EU trade agreement
On 29 September 2026 / 30 September in Aotearoa New Zealand, Both ENDS lodged a complaint with the European Commission under the EU-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. These are the questions we are asked most often, and our answers. The complaint summary, the case explainer and the key public sources are linked at the end of this page.
-
News / 29 september 2026What happens now? A timeline of the SEP Case
What happens now? On 29 September 2026 / 30 September in Aotearoa New Zealand, Both ENDS lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission. It is the first complaint to the EU's Single Entry Point on environmental and climate grounds. It asks the Commission to hold New Zealand to two promises it made in its trade agreement with the EU: not to weaken environmental protection to encourage trade or investment, and not to undermine the Paris Agreement on climate change.
-
Press release / 29 september 2026New Zealand faces its first climate complaint under EU trade rules
UTRECHT / WELLINGTON, 29 September 2026 /30 September in Aotearoa New Zealand
Both ENDS, a Dutch environmental justice organisation, has lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission arguing that New Zealand has broken the climate promises it made in its free trade agreement with the European Union. It is the first complaint on environmental and climate grounds under the Commission's Single Entry Point, the mechanism that lets civil society ask the EU to enforce the sustainability commitments in its trade agreements.
-
News / 10 september 2026Rutu Foundation receives UNESCO Literacy Prize for multilingual education
Both ENDS’ partner the Rutu Foundation for Intercultural Multilingual Education has been awarded the 2026 UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize for its language friendly school programme. This prestigious prize recognises the importance of multilingual education and the right of children to learn in an environment where their home languages are valued.
-
News / 7 september 2026Unprecedented criminal conviction in the Mariana disaster case breaks mining industry's cycle of impunity
A Brazilian federal court has, for the first time, criminally convicted a mining company and three of its managers for their role in the 2015 collapse of the Fundão dam, one of the worst environmental disasters in Brazil's history. Our partner Instituto Cordilheira, which represented victims as assistant prosecutors in the case, calls it a historic breakthrough after years of impunity.
