On its 15th Board Meeting on December 13-15, 2016 in Apia, Samoa, the Green Climate Fund adopted a decision to develop a fund-wide Indigenous Peoples' Policy in 2017. The decision says:

a)    Requests the Secretariat to prepare for consideration by the Board, at its seventeenth meeting, a fund-wide Indigenous Peoples Policy; and

b)    Invites submissions from the Board, and Alternate members and observer organizations in relation to the development of the GCF Indigenous Peoples Policy.

We welcome this decision as we have been calling for an IP policy in the Fund since we began engaging in the 9th board meeting. 

After the decision, Board Members Jorge Ferrer of Cuba and Kate Hughes of UK raised the need to include an agenda item on the IP policy in the draft Work Plan of the Board for 2017. However, due to items that some board members think should be deferred, the Board did not adopt the Work Plan. The Secretariat is set to come up with a draft work plan in the next board meeting (B.16) in early 2017, noting the issues that were raised by the Board, including the IP Policy agenda.

We also wish to share that the GCF Board welcomed the intervention delivered on report about the status and progress of developing proposals for REDD+ Results-Based Payments. The intervention delivered by Kimaren Ole Riamit, the alternate active observer for southern CSOS and executive director of Indigenous Livelihood Enhancement Partners (ILEPA) of Kenya and member of the Indigenous Peoples' Global Advocacy Team on the GCF and Climate Finance) reads:

"We welcome the provision for stakeholder inputs, including civil society organizations and indigenous peoples, into the REDD+ RBP operationalization. Input from stakeholders in the development of the request for proposals is essential and will ensure that the Fund can benefit from the wealth of experience gained from past and ongoing REDD+ activities to develop relevant technical considerations. The Secretariat should have a clear mandate to organize the stakeholder input process including a proposed structure and timelines to be completed before B.16. In view of the centrality of forests to indigenous peoples' livelihoods and the imminent operationalization of RBP for REDD+ under the GCF, it is important for the Fund to consider establishment of a focal point on indigenous peoples' issues within the secretariat to provide resident expertise on IP-related concerns."

The Board agreed with the importance of stakeholder consultations, especially among indigenous peoples, and some even suggested to hold virtual consultations among stakeholders. The Board Members from Democratic Republic of Congo (Tosi Mpanu Mpanu) and of Canada (Caroline Leclerc) were appointed as the Fund's "champions" to facilitate consultations on this matter. They are supposed to provide support and advice to the Secretariat and update the Board of the progress of the work in the next meetings.

We look forward to more information on the process of inputs on the development of an IP policy and we would be happy to share and receive inputs from everyone as well.

Helen Magata

On behalf of Tebtebba and the Indigenous Peoples' Global Advocacy Team on the GCF and Climate Finance