4 December 2014: The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) hosted a side event during the Lima Climate Change Conference on ‘Tracking Public and Private Climate Finance: Towards Improved Data and Increased Transparency.’ The event considered the implications of recent achievements in data and tracking for the UNFCCC and how these methodological developments might contribute to a 2015 climate agreement.

An introductory presentation from OECD DAC and the OECD-led Research Collaborative on Tracking Private Climate Finance explained that from currently available data, only a partial picture of climate-related finance flows to developing countries is available. The speakers presented the methods behind the Rio Markers and described how they are used to create an approximate quantification of financial flows. After announcing planned improvements on quality and coverage, use of data for reporting, and broader measures for 2015, the presenters described the Research Collaborative’s initiative to develop a method for estimating private climate finance mobilized as a result of public finance.

Subsequent presentations offered the perspectives of development banks, with the European Investment Bank (EIB) introducing the Joint Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) Climate Finance Tracking approach and KfW Development Bank illustrating the evolving methodology development banks use to track climate finance. EIB explained that the joint approach measures financial flows to activities with climate change mitigation as their goal, and not according to projects’ actual emission reductions.

KfW provided an overview of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) and its 2013 portfolio, through which OECD and non-OECD banks contributed US$99 billion in green finance. Through a Green Finance Mapping exercise, it was found that mitigation finance was largely divided among renewable energy supply (36%) and energy efficiency in industry and buildings (33%). Adaptation finance went mostly to water preservation (80%) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) (12%).

Government and non-profit insights were also offered from Indonesia, Switzerland and the World Resources Institute (WRI). Indonesia suggested three key areas for improvement at the national level: planning and budgeting consistency and accuracy; budget efficiency through performance based budgeting; and preparation of fiscal instruments to support climate financing.

The OECD Rio Markers were created to help countries complete their National Communications (NCs) to the three Rio Conventions—the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the UNFCCC. [OECD Event Webpage] [OECD DAC Webpage] [IISD RS Coverage of the Lima Climate Conference]