Legal Personality and the Green Climate Fund

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Date produced: 06/12/2011

The related concepts of legal personality and legal capacity are often of relevance in the UNFCCC negotiations. Of particular current relevance is the status of the Green Climate Fund (“GCF”).

This paper begins by introducing the concept of international legal personality and legal capacity. It describes the legal status of an international organisation and briefly discusses the manner in which an international organisation is attributed international legal personality and legal capacity. It then discusses the key issue relating to the Green Climate Fund, namely whether the Fund has international legal personality, with reference to the draft governing instrument and proposed wording of the COP decision as set out in a text dated 5 December 2011.