Green Climate Fund board members gather in Songdo for vote on headquarters’ location


Board members of the Green Climate Fund gathered in Songdo on Wednesday for a three-day meeting in which they are expected to decide where to locate the fund’s headquarters.

Korean officials, both of the central government and Incheon Metropolitan City, are making last-minute efforts to bring the office to Songdo, a newly-developed district in Incheon.

Songdo, built from scratch with the vision of becoming an international business hub in Northeast Asia, pins high hopes on the bid.

“If we succeed in hosting the GCF secretariat here, I think it would be the biggest diplomatic accomplishment of Korea since the election of Ban Ki-moon as the United Nations secretary-general,” said Incheon Mayor Song Young-gil.

“It will also bring in significant economic benefits to Incheon and be a boost to the Incheon Free Economic Zone,” he added.

Above all, Song stressed that the fund should come to Korea and Asia, given that no U.N. environmental organizations are located here. “The objectives of the GCF can be obtained only when developing countries actively engage in efforts to fight climate change,” he said. 

Competition, however, is expected to be tough.

A total of six cities are in the race ― Bonn in Germany, Mexico City, Windhoek in Namibia, Warsaw, Geneva and Songdo.

Germany’s Bonn looks like the strongest competitor, having the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the city.

The GCF is established as a financial mechanism of the UNFCCC. The interim secretariat of the fund is also located in the city.

Still, Song and Korean officials believe that Songdo stands a chance, being the only Asian city in the race.

Korea, which has risen to prosperity from being one of the world’s poorest countries in a period of a few decades, can connect with other developing countries and serve as their bridge to richer countries on global environmental issues, they claim.

Bridging the gap between the developed and developing worlds on environmental matters is, in fact, the main idea behind the GCF.

First proposed in 2009 and established in December 2011, the fund is an operating entity of the UNFCCC to transfer money from rich countries to poor countries in order to help the latter cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impact of climate change.

It is envisioned to be the single biggest source of financing in global efforts to combat climate change. Rich countries have pledged to collectively commit $100 billion per year for the fund by 2020.

Key details of the fund are yet to be drawn up, such as who should run it and how it will operate and raise funds.

Its secretariat, to be established early next year following the decision on the head office location, will have 300 to 500 employees in the initial period, which will rise to several thousand once the fund gets up and running.

If the GCF comes to Songdo, Korea, it will help balance international environmental organizations that are mostly based in Europe and North America.

“It would also be a display of the fund’s commitment to supporting developing countries,” Song said.

The winner of the race will be chosen by a majority vote Friday by 24 members of the fund, equally spread between developed and developing countries.

If a candidate secures more than 50 percent of votes cast, that candidate wins. Otherwise, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and a new round of voting takes place. This process continues until one candidate has a majority.

The selection is subject to a final endorsement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar, at the end of the year.

The mayor hoped that the visiting GCF officials would recognize Songdo’s environmentally-friendly features and excellent living and working environment for foreigners.

“Songdo is a model of low-carbon green cities which the UNFCCC seeks to spread across the globe,” Song said.

I-Tower, which the city offers as the GCF’s office space free of charge, is a high-tech eco-friendly building tailored for international organizations, he added. The building is due for completion later this year.

Songdo already hosts 10 international organizations, including the U.N. Asian and Pacific Training Center for Information and Communication Technology for Development (U.N.-APCICT), regional/sub-regional offices of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and the U.N. Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD).

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)