Complementarity and coherence among climate funds: a tool for improved access in LDCs and SIDS?

Accessing climate finance remains slow, complex and resource intensive, with disproportionate burdens on least developed countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

In response, the Green Climate Fund, Global Environment Facility, Adaptation Fund and other major climate funds are advancing an agenda of ‘complementarity and coherence’ aimed at enhancing access for countries, better aligning their operations and reducing duplication.

This paper traces how complementarity and coherence has evolved through United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change guidance and fund-level implementation. Drawing on document analysis and interviews, it examines whether these efforts are translating into meaningful improvements in access for LDCs and SIDS or risk introducing new forms of complexity.