Published by
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Year
2012

Tracking Climate Finance: What and How?

In the international climate change negotiations, developed countries have committed to mobilising jointly $100 billion of climate finance per year by 2020 for developing countries. However, key questions remain regarding which activities as well as which financial flows might count towards this commitment.

Mobilising $100 billion of climate finance per year

Following the UNFCCC negotiations in Durban 2011, there is no detailed guidance as to what types of financial flows might be counted, nor on how to count them. Consideration of the necessary data and systems to track financial flows is complicated by the unanswered political questions, centring around the following themes:

  • Additionality: how does the concept of additionality relate to the $100 bn long-term commitment?
  • Mobilising: what constitutes "mobilised" climate finance, and how can it be demonstrated?

The aim of this paper is to highlight key questions that will impact how the international community counts financial flows (both public and private) towards the $100 bn long-term climate finance commitment, and discuss the resulting implications for tracking these flows. The scope of the paper includes both public and private financial flows in or to developing countries, but does not include the specifics of what types of projects might count as mitigation or adaptation actions.

How is the international community counting financial flows?

To illustrate some of the key tracking issues, this paper presents examples of different types of funding for mitigation or adaptation activities in developing countries. The examples demonstrate the complexity of financial flows for climate change action, across international and domestic as well as public and private flows.