Solomon Islands has pledged US$400,000 to the Green Climate Fund’s next replenishment, becoming the first country to announce a contribution to the round that will finance the fund’s work from 2028 to 2031.
Prime Minister Matthew Wale announced the commitment at a Green Climate Fund event at the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, on 11 November. The fund said it was the first pledge to its third replenishment and the first made to a replenishment by a country classified as a small island developing state or a least developed country.
The announcement is a pledge, rather than confirmation that the money has already been paid. Wale called on other countries with the capacity to contribute to support an ambitious replenishment. The fund’s executive director, Mafalda Duarte, also urged larger economies to follow Solomon Islands’ lead.
A new funding round
The Green Climate Fund supports developing countries in reducing emissions and adapting to climate change. Its board decided to begin the third replenishment process in July 2026, with the resulting funding period running from January 2028 to December 2031. The fundraising process is scheduled to conclude in October 2027.
Wale argued that climate finance should be grant-based, flexible and driven by the countries and communities using it. He said national systems should have a stronger role in delivering support and called for the particular vulnerabilities of small island states to be taken into account when resources are allocated.
He also stressed the importance of local leadership, including the involvement of women, young people and holders of traditional knowledge in shaping priorities. The argument is about how finance is delivered as well as how much is raised: a commitment to a global fund does not itself specify a new project in Solomon Islands.
In describing the challenges facing island communities, Wale pointed to saltwater entering wells and exceptionally high tides washing through homes. He said the test of climate finance should be the difference it makes to people’s lives.
Questions at home
The pledge has also prompted criticism from Solomon Islands’ opposition leader, Manasseh Sogavare. He said he supported international climate cooperation but questioned the fiscal justification for the contribution while the country’s own adaptation needs remained under-resourced.
Sogavare called for priority to be given to domestic needs including coastal protection, freshwater security, infrastructure, agriculture and disaster preparedness. He also raised the country’s existing climate-financing obligations and asked how the new pledge could be reconciled with them. His comments express the opposition’s position; they do not establish that the pledged sum has been taken from a particular domestic project.
Solomon Islands has received support from the fund before. An agreement for the Tina River Hydropower Development Project provided for US$86 million in Green Climate Fund finance, consisting of a US$70 million concessional loan and a US$16 million grant. The project is intended to help the country move away from reliance on diesel-generated electricity.
A separate community adaptation project announced in 2023 brought together the fund, Save the Children and government partners. The US$31.8 million project included a US$24.9 million fund grant and was designed to support climate-resilient farming, water conservation and safer schools. Its original plans aimed to reach 170 remote and rural communities and 100 schools; those figures were targets, not a statement of how much has since been delivered.
For the next replenishment, the amount available will depend on further commitments. The fund’s board has said meetings in the process will be open to potential contributors and board members. Wale’s appeal places locally led adaptation and the terms on which countries access money alongside the wider question of how much financing governments are willing to provide.
