File a complaint

File a complaint with our online form

Any person or a group of persons, or a community that has been or may be affected negatively by a GCF project or programme (including those being actively considered for funding by the GCF) may file a complaint. The affected person(s) can authorise their government or representative to file and pursue the complaint on their behalf.

A complaint with the IRM can be filed by:

Sending it by mail or email;
Sending a voice or video recording;
Filling out the online complaints form.

A complaint can be filed in English, or in the local language of the complainant. Where possible, a translation should be provided in English. Otherwise, the IRM will attempt to have the complaint translated and respond in the language of the complainant.

The IRM will provide confidentiality upon receiving a complaint if requested to do so by the complainant. This includes the names and identities of complainants and any designated representatives. Where disclosure may be required to address the complaint, the IRM will consult with the complainant prior to disclosing any confidential information.

There are no formal requirements for filing a complaint. A complaint should generally include:

The complainant’s name, address and contact information;
If the complaint is being filed by a representative of the complainant, the name and contact information of the representative, as well as evidence that the representative is authorised to act on the behalf of the complainant;
A description of the project or programme that has caused or may cause adverse impacts to the complainant;
A description of how the complainants have been or may be adversely impacted by the project or programme;
Whether confidentiality is being requested and the reasons for it.

Where possible it is also helpful to include:

Details of GCF's policies and procedures and/or environmental and social safeguards that were violated;
Other efforts made by the complainant to bring the issues to the attention of other grievance/redress mechanisms and whether any relief, redress or other help was received;
Other information the complainant feels is important or useful, including documents, media reports, photographs, videos and recordings, which might assist us to address your complaint or grievance;

The costs of facilitating problem solving and/or conducting compliance review are covered by IRM.

Eligibility of complaints

The complaint can raise issues related to any of GCF’s policies and procedures, including those relating to social and environmental issues, indigenous peoples, gender, information disclosure, among others. However, the IRM cannot accept a complaint if it is:

About a project or programme where the GCF is not directly and/or indirectly involved;
About GCF’s non-operational housekeeping, such as human resources and finance;
About allegations of corruption or procurement issues (these complaints are handled by the Independent Integrity Unit (IIU) and other Units at the GCF);
Only about whether the GCF’s policies and procedures are adequate;
About a matter already dealt with by the IRM, unless there is new relevant information that was not available before; or
Malicious, frivolous and/or fraudulent or filed to gain a competitive advantage.

The complaint process

Once a complaint is filed, the IRM will determine if it is eligible, and may request further information from the complainant to make this determination. Eligibility determinations are procedural in nature, and do not imply a decision or judgement by the IRM on the issues in the complaint or their merit.

Once a complaint has been found eligible, the IRM will contact the complainant and others involved to explore if the case is amenable to problem solving through collaborative processes, like information exchange or mediation.

If the complainants and others are prepared to engage in a problem solving process, the IRM will help design and facilitate a process aimed at reaching a mutually satisfactory solution that addresses the complaint. If an agreement is reached, the IRM will monitor implementation of the agreement in consultation with the parties.

If there is no willingness to engage in a problem solving process or a problem solving process does not successfully resolve the issues of concern, the IRM will commence an appraisal of the complaint. The appraisal aims to determine whether there is enough evidence that GCF has violated its policies and procedures. The appraisal takes into consideration the information provided by the complainant, as well as the responses from the GCF Secretariat.

If the IRM decides there is enough evidence of potential violations, the IRM will investigate the issues raised in the complaint to determine whether any violations of GCF's policies and procedures have occurred. The IRM may conduct interviews, site visits and review document to find the true state of the facts.

A draft of the IRM’s investigation report is sent to the complainant and the GCF for feedback. Once finalized, the report will be submitted to the GCF Board, along with any recommendations, for a decision.

The GCF Board will, as soon as practicable, consider the report and decide whether to give redress and relief to the complainant.

If the Board decides to give redress, GCF will prepare a plan to remedy the complaint and the IRM will monitor the situation to ensure the situation is remedied.

Contact other grievance mechanisms

Complaints can also be submitted to the grievance redress mechanisms of the Accredited Entities of the Green Climate Fund. There are other Accredited Entities whose complaints should be submitted directly to the IRM.