The National Designated Authority for Tonga was nominated in October 2015. He is also the Chief Executive Officer in Government with limited availability to commit and fully discharge his role as NDA between the Government of Tonga and GCF. Staff from the Department of Climate Change that support the NDA is very small in numbers, have engaged in other work commitments, not fully dedicated to GCF and with limited experience on green climate financing. GCF is a new facility and there is very limited knowledge and understanding of this fund and its operational procedures in Tonga.

Request to implement Activity Area 1 (Strengthening the National Designated Authority) under the GCF Readiness and preparatory support programme will strengthen the technical and institutional capacity of the NDA to enable him to effectively discharge his roles and responsibilities as well as engagement with the fund.