Switzerland presenting Geneva’s bid for secretariat seat
Geneva, home to scores of international organizations, is bidding for the new home for the Green Climate Fund
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Green Climate Fund is holding its initial board meeting in Geneva 23-25 August. High on the agenda is a decision about the selection process for its secretariat, and presentations from a number of cities seeking to act as permanent host to the fund.
Geneva is one of the bidders, presented by fund member country Switzerland. Also presenting offers Germany, Mexico, Namibia, Poland and South Korea. The decision will be taken at the next climate conference, in November in Qatar.
“The Fund has been set up to manage a part of the $100 billion that the global community intends to invest in climate measures in emerging and developing countries from 2020,” two Swiss government offices said in a joint press release Wednesday 22 August.
The fund was set up in Durban, South Africa in 2011 during the World Climate Conference. It has 24 members, half of them industrialized nations and half emerging and developing countries. Switzerland shares a seat with Russia, which will represent the constituency over the next 18 months.
The Federal Departments of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications and Foreign Affairs argue in their statement that Geneva is well placed to host the fund’s secretariat, noting that “The city hosts the headquarters of many international organizations and non-governmental organizations, and along with the Lake Geneva region is a major hub of international environmental policy. The institutional and geographical concentration of organizations involved in related activities brings a further advantage in terms of greater efficiency.”
