The Green Climate Fund will kick off its operations in Korea on Wednesday, with a fund-raising operation on a similar scale to that of the International Monetary Fund.

In late 2012, Songdo in Incheon was chosen as the permanent home to the environment-oriented fund, beating two major competitors ― Geneva, Switzerland, and Bonn, Germany ― in the competition to host the secretariat.

Its total fund-raising is estimated to reach $800 billion (880 trillion won) in the coming years, approaching the level of $845 billion, held by the Washington, D.C.-based IMF.

The GCF was established to provide support to developing countries to help limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change.

Global officials at the organization shared the view that the GCF would play a huge role in channeling climate funding to developing countries, and expected that the board would agree on a set of overarching targets and define the impact the fund will seek to achieve.

“Thanks to the various coming international events hosted by the GCF, the nation is expected to see growing demand in sectors such as hotels, tourism, transportation and finance,” said an official at the Finance Ministry.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)