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Climate fund approves $1.97bn as Africa presses for COP31 finance talks
Record project approvals precede the November summit, while African negotiators seek formal talks on adaptation funding and UN reports flag barriers to delivery.
The Green Climate Fund has approved US$1.97 billion in new climate finance before COP31, as African negotiators press for dedicated discussions on how climate funding reaches developing countries.
In a 29 October 2026 announcement, the fund said its board approved 21 projects, with the total also including additional finance for an existing facility. It called the amount a record for a single board meeting.
Approval is one step
The decisions bring the fund’s 2026 approvals to US$3.3 billion. National and regional Direct Access Entities will manage 34% of the funding approved at the meeting.
The announcement covers a global portfolio. The figures record funding approvals; disbursements and completed project outcomes must still be tracked.
What African negotiators are asking for
In a letter dated 25 October, Ghana, chairing the African Group of Negotiators, asked for three items to be added to the Antalya meetings’ agendas: implementation of the adaptation-finance tripling goal; assessment of the Green Climate Fund’s funding needs and available resources; and a climate-and-trade dialogue.
The group argues that the call to at least triple adaptation finance by 2035 needs a dedicated negotiating space. Its letter says the mid-year talks could not agree how or where to address the goal.
These are requests for agenda items. The letter itself does not establish that the proposals have been adopted or that additional money has been secured.
From plans to finance on the ground
The funding dispute meets a practical warning in UN Climate Change’s third-quarter update. Summarising its 27 October reports, the secretariat says collective progress remains insufficient to keep the 1.5°C warming limit within reach this century.
Its adaptation assessment records 81 developing countries having submitted national adaptation plans, but identifies barriers from preparing proposals and securing approvals to timely disbursement. A plan on file is not the same as a financed project under way.
South Africa’s stake
South Africa’s 13 October consultation notice set out a process involving government, labour, business, youth, local government and civil society to shape its negotiating position. It described preparations for the negotiating position; it did not publish a final mandate.
COP31 runs from 9 to 20 November 2026 in Antalya, Türkiye. For communities and workers, the useful measures of progress will extend beyond summit totals: which projects receive finance, when funds are released and what protection or infrastructure those projects deliver.