Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) has been designated as the NDA for the GCF given its mandate to manage and channel all developmental grants in the country. However, there is limited capacity to provide dedicated support and coordination across various national and sub-national entities which is an obstacle to achieve national priorities such as the “Carbon neutral development” objective of the country and to realise UN SDGs. Further, knowledge and experiences sharing is limited due to lack of capacities. To overcome some of these challenges, multi-sectoral Mainstreaming Reference Group (MRG) was formed and a country coordination mechanism to enable stakeholder dialogue and coordination related to GCF engagement was established. Therefore, NDA capacity needs to be strengthened to provide oversight, monitor and evaluate Fund activities at the country level in accordance with the Fund guidelines.

Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation (BTFEC) is the world’s first environmental trust fund, established in 1992. BTFEC invests in promotion of social welfare through environmental conservation of the forests, flora, fauna, wildlife and biodiversity. However, BTFEC lacks competent human resources to undertake NIE accreditation processes and would require additional human resource with requisite experience and capacity building.