Which of the following statements regarding ‘Green Climate Fund’ is/are correct? 1) It is intended to assist the developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change. 2) It is founded under the aegis of UNEP, OECD, Asian Development Bank and World Bank.   Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Statement 1 is correct and statement 2 is not, so the answer is A) 1 only.

Why statement 1 is correct: The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was set up under the UNFCCC framework, agreed at COP-16 in Cancun in 2010, and became operational in 2015. It finances mitigation and adaptation projects in developing countries, which is the core of its mandate.

Why statement 2 is wrong: The GCF was not founded under the aegis of UNEP, OECD, ADB or the World Bank. Its parent is the UNFCCC. Its secretariat is in Songdo, South Korea. The World Bank did act as interim trustee for a period, but that was an administrative arrangement, not the founding body.

Concept and syllabus link: This sits under climate finance and the Paris Agreement's Article 9, which commits developed countries to provide finance to developing countries. For Mains GS-III, link it to the debate on common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and to how adequately climate finance has been delivered.

Trap: Aspirants see the World Bank's trustee role and assume it founded the fund. Remember that the GCF belongs to the UNFCCC, and that ADB, OECD and UNEP have no role in creating it.