The newest actor in the multilateral climate finance architecture is the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The GCF is an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism of the UNFCCC. Parties committed to create it at COP 16 in Cancun, Mexico, and after a year-long Transitional Committee Process to agree on its design parameters, its governing instrument was adopted at COP 17 in Durban, South Africa. 

Over time, the GCF is supposed to become the main channel for public climate finance. The GCF is a legally independent institution hosted by South Korea, with its own secretariat, and the World Bank as its interim trustee. It functions under the guidance of, and is accountable to, the UNFCCC COP. The 24 GCF Board members, with equal representation of developed and developing countries, and support from the secretariat have been working to operationalise the fund since their first meeting in August 2012. While substantial
work has been done, there is much that remains to be agreed before the GCF will be “ready” to raise and start disbursing finance. The lack of clarity on long-term climate finance and, in turn, the likely funding that will be committed to the GCF is a major challenge for bringing this fund from concept to reality.