SASi-SPi intelligence supports climate action ambitions in Cameroon
Cameroon has ambitions to reduce greenhouse gases by 35 percent by 2030. EU-funded SASi-SPi has provided strategic intelligence to support these ambitions and improve access to climate funding.
African states contribute only a very small share of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but are disproportionately exposed to climate change impacts, including more frequent and intense extreme weather events. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was established in 2010 to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement (2015) as a multilateral mechanism to support and finance the mitigation and adaptation efforts of southern countries.
21 priority projects
Cameroon has established an institutional framework for climate action, designating the Ministry of the Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development as its National Designated Authority. The country also adopted a National Climate Plan in 2025 and committed to a 35 percent reduction in GHG emissions by 2030, through its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which identified 21 priority projects.
Despite this progress, access to GCF financing remains limited. Cameroon is currently benefiting from only one operational GCF-funded initiative, the “Programme Intégré de Développement et d’Adaptation aux Changements Climatiques dans le Bassin du Niger”, under which funding has been mobilised and activities are ongoing. Eight additional multi-country GCF initiatives managed by accredited international entities include Cameroon but have not yet been translated into nationally implemented projects.
Two pathways
Under the GCF architecture, funding proposals for nationally implemented projects must be developed by an accredited entity and endorsed at the national level by the National Designated Authority through a no-objection letter. As Cameroon does not yet have a nationally accredited entity, access to GCF financing has relied primarily on indirect access through international accredited entities.
However, both the establishment of a national accredited entity and the operationalisation of indirect access to funding entail significant institutional, technical, and procedural challenges, including limited coordination capacity and low levels of private-sector participation in climate finance.
SASi-SPi proposes two pathways for Cameroon to improve access to GCF financing, with a particular focus on indirect access, the most operational option in the short term: (i) establishing a national accredited entity to enable direct access to GCF, and (ii) facilitating indirect access through the nine GCF-funded regional initiatives targeting Cameroon, managed by internationally accredited entities.
In parallel, three cross-cutting priorities are identified to strengthen country-level readiness for GCF access:
- Formalising the national no-objection mechanism,
- Creating a more favourable financial environment for the private sector,
- Developing a robust pipeline of projects aligned with national priorities.
For more information, contact Workstream 1 Team Leader Tristan le Cotty at Cirad, tristan.le_cotty@cirad.fr
The following events will take place during the spring of 2026.
World trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon
Cameroon-EU Business Week under the Global Gateway framework