The Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) was founded in 2001 during the seventh climate summit in Marrakech and is under the authority of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). It has been funding projects since 2009.
Objectives and modalitites
The SCCF supports developing countries belonging to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in their activities to adapt to climate change, and with technology transfer and capacity building. The fund acts as a catalyst for the generation of additional bilateral and multilateral resources.
The supported projects and programs generally pursue long-term objectives for strengthening a country’s resilience to climate change while referring to other activities such as national adaptation programs of action (NAPAs). More recently, the SCCF has focused more on leveraging private finance for innovative adaptation projects.
Key developments
The SCCF has funded a total of 138 projects in 117 countries with a funding volume of $457.8 million. The SCCF funds i.a. activities on climate resilient value chains, coastal and integrated water management, nature-based solutions, climate risk insurance and climate-resilient infrastructure. Based on the current fund strategy (2022-2026) the SCCF will disburse between $200 and $400 mio for projects in developing countries.
In 2020, a program evaluation of the SCCF was published to review progress since the previous evaluation from 2016. In addition, the SCCF publishes Annual Evaluation Reports, such as those from 2023, 2024 and 2025 which offer ongoing assessments of project outcomes, sustainability, and monitoring and evaluation practices.
Funding volume and Germany’s contribution
From 2008 to 2014, Germany has pledged and deposited around €84 million for the SCCF. After a long break, Germany started funding the SCCF again in 2023 and pledged another €10 million in 2025. This raises Germany’s overall contributions to the SCCF to €124 million. Germany also has a seat in the LDCF Council which decides upon project applications and fund regulations. (as of October 2026)
