With its mandate to promote a paradigm shift towards low-emissions and climate-resilient development pathways, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has reached full operationalisation in 2015 and is resourced with over US$ 6bn (with more than US$ 10bn pledged). According to its initial results management framework the GCF aims to achieve a "reduction of emissions from buildings and cities" while at the same time "increasing the resilience of infrastructure and the built environment to climate change threats" (GCF, 2014).

However, clear operationalisation pathways for the GCF to reach the subnational level are still lacking to date. This publication by Germwanwatch offers some suggestions on how to shape the GCF so that its finance flows better suit the needs of cities.