Green Fund and the Mitigation of Climate Change Impacts
By Tiago Conceição (CFC-GS/UFPA) The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is the largest international climate finance platform, created under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and consolidated as one of the main instruments for implementing the Paris Agreement. Its institutionalization responds to the need to ensure adequate and predictable financial resources so that developing countries can address the impacts of climate change, considering the profound historical, socioeconomic, and environmental inequalities that mark the international system. The GCF’s central objective is to support integrated mitigation and adaptation actions, promoting a low-carbon and climate-resilient development model. In the area of mitigation, the Fund finances initiatives aimed at reducing or removing greenhouse gas emissions, such as forest conservation and restoration projects, reforestation with native species, implementation of agroforestry systems, expansion of renewable energy sources, and sustainable land use practices. These strategies are widely recognized in Brazilian literature as fundamental for reducing emissions and strengthening carbon sinks, especially in mega-diverse countries such as Brazil. In the field of adaptation, the GCF seeks to strengthen the capacity of communities, ecosystems, and institutions to deal with the adverse effects of climate change, such as extreme weather events, water scarcity, food insecurity, and biodiversity loss. National studies highlight that these impacts affect socially vulnerable populations disproportionately, making it essential to adopt climate policies that incorporate social and territorial dimensions. The Green Climate Fund therefore plays a central role in mitigating climate change by financially enabling actions that contribute both to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to increasing carbon stocks in developing countries. Through instruments such as grants, concessional loans, and co-financing mechanisms, the GCF promotes the transition from carbon-intensive economies to sustainable development trajectories, in line with Brazil’s international commitments. A distinctive feature of the GCF’s work is its focus on the principles of climate justice and equity, recognizing that the countries and social groups least responsible for historical emissions are often the most exposed to the effects of the climate crisis. In this sense, the Fund prioritizes sectors considered structurally vulnerable, such as tropical forests, family farming, water resources, and the territories of indigenous, quilombola, and traditional communities. Brazilian literature emphasizes that these groups play a strategic role in environmental conservation and climate change mitigation, especially in the Amazon, where traditional territories have lower rates of deforestation. Thus, the relationship between the Green Climate Fund and climate change mitigation is realized through the financing of projects that reduce emissions, conserve strategic ecosystems, and strengthen environmental governance, while promoting social inclusion and climate justice. By prioritizing the most vulnerable countries and communities, the GCF contributes not only to addressing the global climate crisis, but also to consolidating a sustainable development model that combines environmental protection, social equity, and recognition of local knowledge, especially in the Brazilian context. REFERENCES ACSELRAD, Henri. Ambientalização das lutas sociais – o caso do movimento por justiça ambiental. Estudos Avançados, v. 24, n. 68, p. 103–119, 2010. Disponível em: https://revistas.usp.br/eav/article/view/10469. Acesso em: 03 jan. 2026. FERREIRA, Felipe. O Acordo de Paris: Reflexões e Perspectivas das Negociações Internacionais Sobre Mudança do Clima. Arraes Editores, 2025. Disponível em: https://encurtador.com.br/qcEx Acesso em: 5 jan. 2026. VIOLA, E.; BASSO, L. Política climática no Brasil: atores, interesses e instituições. Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, v. 59, n. 2, 2016. ORGANIZAÇÃO DAS NAÇÕES UNIDAS (ONU). Acordo de Paris. Paris: Convenção-Quadro das Nações Unidas sobre Mudança do Clima, 2015. Disponível em: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement. Acesso em: 2 jan. 2026.
