Pirate's Cove

Gee, who would have thought that a United Nations program/fund would have such a problem, especially when it involves climate cultists?

Green Climate Fund whistleblowers urge US to take its money elsewhere – until ‘toxic’ workplace is fixed

John Kerry is promising the US will “make good” on its contribution to the Green Climate Fund.

The presidential climate envoy is seeking to rebuild bridges with the rest of the world after Donald Trump reneged on US climate commitments.

Delivering a $2 billion outstanding pledge to the UN-backed climate fund, for distribution to projects in developing countries, is widely seen as a good place to start.

Campaigners are calling on the Biden administration to commit a further $6bn to the fund. Yannick Glemarec, executive director of the fund, says US reengagement “will send an extraordinarily positive signal” and allow it to accelerate support for the green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Or, we could spend that money on American citizens who are suffering during a global pandemic. We could spend it on fixing lots of the infrastructure. We could spend it on research and development for renewables, making them more effective. We could spend it on the homeless. We could send every single American a Kindle Paperwhite and a years worth of Kindle Unlimited. At least those are real issues.

But the latest staff survey results, presented internally last month and seen by Climate Home News, show faith in the fund’s leadership is at rock bottom. Views of the senior management team were 24% favourable, 40% unfavourable.

Unless there is urgent reform, whistleblowers tell Climate Home News, the money would be better directed elsewhere. 

Three employees of the GCF secretariat who quit in 2019 and 2020 cite concerns about a lack of integrity in vetting projects and abuses of power creating a hostile working environment. This, they say, affects the quality of projects on the ground.

“Sincerely, I don’t think that the GCF, the way it is managed today, is a good channel for climate finance,” says Pierre-Daniel Telep, a German national with Cameroonian heritage who worked on renewable energy projects at the fund for two and a half years.

The UN isn’t particularly known for their integrity when it comes to projects and spending. Especially when it comes to money given from nations where there are no strings attached, since it is deemed that the 1st World nations owe it to the developing nations

Some of the most problematic bids came from countries hosting GCF board meetings and expecting to secure multi-million-dollar investments in return. 

Bahrain put in a bid for $32 million ahead of hosting one such meeting in October 2018. Despite oil export wealth putting it in the World Bank’s “high income” bracket, it is classed as a developing country under the UN climate convention – and therefore eligible for international climate finance. 

And they ended up getting money. Not $32 million, but, about $3 million. No need.

Then there are concerns about the workplace culture. 

In August 2020, the Financial Times reported on a wave of misconduct allegations at the fund. It cited the Re-Green Initiative – a network claiming to represent staff – and interviews with 17 current and former employees who remained anonymous. 

Complaints to the fund’s Independent Integrity Unit (IIU) nearly doubled to 40 in 2019, with 24 categorised as staff misconduct. Subsequent analysis by the IIU found that while the overall complaint rate was within range of similar institutions, the rate of misconduct allegations was significantly higher: 7.5 per 100 staff, compared to 1.8 at the World Bank and 2.8 at the Asian Development Bank. 

In fairness, most of these people are hardcore leftists who whine about everything, conflate minor things into mountains. “Triggered”. Offended. So, I’d take that with a grain of salt.

The 2020 staff survey included new questions designed to “probe pain points” identified through a series of “safe space” meetings. It showed there was a long way to go to regain staff trust: only one in three respondents (31%) said they believed action would be taken to address the problems identified.

If you need safe spaces, you perhaps should go work elsewhere. And the worker bees are not in charge, no matter what they think.

For the whistleblowers, fixing the “toxic” workplace culture needs to come first. 

“Personally, I think if the US really cares about climate and not the political angle… a better investment could be something more effective, more nimble, more professionally managed,” says Telep. 

Personally, I think the US should use it’s money on it’s own people.