North Macedonia is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, particularly in sectors like agriculture, water resources, and public health. Rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, and more frequent extreme weather events pose significant risks to the country's economic stability and social welfare. These challenges disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, including women, rural communities, and low-income populations, intensifying existing inequalities. The need to strengthen the climate resilience of communities is therefore critical, and addressing both environmental and social dimensions is key to sustainable development.
In response to these growing concerns, the National Designated Authority of the Government of Republic of North Macedonia for coordination of the Green Climate Fund activities in the country, in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in North Macedonia under the project "Building Capacity Towards Sustainable Human Capital Development", aimed to foster more inclusive and climate-resilient development by integrating gender equality and human capital dimensions into climate action strategies. As part of this project, in the period of October 2023- January 2024, in coordination with the relevant stakeholders and supported by national and international consultants, two essential guidelines have been developed to enhance project design and implementation in alignment with North Macedonia’s climate and development goals.
1. Guideline for Integrating Gender and Human Capital Dimensions in Project Appraisal and Design- This guideline provides a comprehensive framework to ensure that gender and human capital considerations are integrated into all stages of climate-related project appraisal and design. Given the disproportionate impact of climate change on marginalized groups, particularly women, youth, and disadvantage groups, it is crucial that projects account for gender disparities and promote equitable development outcomes.
2. Guideline for Enhancing Climate Rationale of Social Development Projects- This second guideline focuses on strengthening the climate rationale of social development projects, ensuring they are designed to be resilient to climate change impacts. It emphasizes the integration of scientific data, climate projections, and risk assessments into project planning, with a particular focus on gender-sensitive approaches. By addressing both the climate and social dimensions, this guideline supports the development of projects that are not only environmentally sustainable but also socially inclusive, promoting long-term human capital growth in North Macedonia. The guideline is initially developed to support the work of central level institutions such as the ministries in charge of labor market, employment, social policy, gender, and equal opportunities, but it can be utilized by the civil and private sector as well.
These guidelines shall serve as critical resources for policymakers, project designers, and development practitioners working to build a more resilient and equitable future for the Macedonian society. Through the integration of gender-sensitive approaches and a strong climate rationale, these documents are aiming to enhance the country's ability to adapt to climate change while fostering sustainable human capital development.
Skopje, 20 May 2025 – The Green Climate Fund (GCF), the world's largest dedicated climate fund, has approved a new project for North Macedonia under its Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme. The two-year initiative was officially launched today at an event hosted by the Government, bringing together representatives from key national institutions, ministries, academia, and development partners.
This marks North Macedonia's sixth GCF Readiness project and the fourth implemented in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The project is led by FAO under the guidance of the Office of the President of the Government, serving as the National Designated Authority (NDA) for the GCF.
North Macedonia’s forestry sector, historically the country’s primary greenhouse gas (GHG) sink, is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. More frequent forest fires, rising temperatures, and land use changes are weakening the sector’s ability to sequester carbon. To reverse this trend, the country’s Enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution (ENDC) sets clear targets to cut emissions in the forestry sector by 2030 through improved fire management and large-scale afforestation.
To help meet these commitments, the new GCF Readiness project will support national decarbonization efforts by strengthening institutional capacities for integrated forest fire management and enhancing the transparency, availability, and use of climate information. These efforts aim to reduce GHG emissions from forests, increase sequestration, and improve the country’s overall climate resilience.
Officially launching the project, Dame Dimitrovski, Advisor to the President of the Government on Environment and Climate and Primary Focal Point for the GCF, said: “North Macedonia is firmly committed to protecting its forests as a cornerstone of sustainable development and climate resilience. This project marks a critical step forward—strengthening our national response to forest fires, advancing low-emission development, and helping us deliver on our commitments under the Paris Agreement.”
“FAO values the trust of the Macedonian Government and is proud to serve as a key GCF partner, supporting the country’s climate priorities through targeted, high-impact interventions’’ said Jeremy Schlickenrieder, FAO Natural Resources Officer and Lead Technical Officer of the project. He emphasized that this project lays a solid foundation for scaling up investment in high-impact projects that make the forestry sector more efficient, sustainable and resilient to climate change. By strengthening national capacities for integrated fire management and enhancing climate data collection and information sharing, it directly supports the reduction of GHG from forests and the achievement of NDC commitments. ‘’Strategic planning will further guide efforts to prevent forest fires and mobilize resources and investments for sustainable, climate-resilient forests”- he added.
Looking ahead, FAO will continue working closely with the Government of North Macedonia and the GCF to build on the readiness efforts and explore opportunities to scale up climate action through the GCF and other partners that help the country meet its adaptation and mitigation priorities across key sectors (including agriculture, forestry and land use).
Open Call: Project Ideas for Green Climate Fund Support in North Macedonia (2025)
The Government of the Republic of North Macedonia represented by the Office of the President of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia as a National Designated Authority (NDA) for the Green Climate Fund announces an Open call for Submitting Project Ideas that address and respond to the challenge of climate change.
The Open Call aims to target Project Ideas with climate mitigation/adaption potential to be considered on a national level as a first step in the project proposal development process (Project Idea, Concept Note and Full Project Proposal) for submission to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for financing through grants, loans, equities and guarantees.
Green Climate Fund in Brief
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is global fund created by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change (https://www.greenclimate.fund/home). The main principle of the GCF, as a global fund, is to promote a paradigm shift to low-emission and climate-resilient development across countries.
Project idea endorsement
The Project Idea notes should be fulfilled and submitted online to the NDA, via the following link: www.greendevelopment.mk/faoprojects/Account/Login in order to be eligible and subject to the prioritization procedure with the aim to determine the possibility to be included in the GCF Country Programme.
Each Project Idea needs to be in line with the country’s mitigation and adaptation priority sectors/actions defined already in the national strategic documents, as well as with the GCF strategic impact areas.
How to apply?
This call is open for all interested stakeholders. Any legal entity with ideas for climate investments is encouraged to develop a project idea.
Applicants should complete the Project Idea note in English language by using the electronic template accessible on the website www.greendevelopment.mk, under the Section “Submit Project Idea”.
Before starting to develop their project idea, applicants should register at www.greendevelopment.mk/faoprojects/Account/Login in order to access the ‘’Project Idea notes’’ page.
Deadline for Submission of Project Ideas
Applicants should submit the fully completed Project Idea Note, not later than Monday, 3 November 2025, at 16:00 hrs.
Supporting documents
For guidelines about the GCF, including strategic impact areas, main eligibility and prioritization criteria, how to develop successful Project Ideas and later on Concept Notes and full Project Proposals, please refer to the below documents:
