A joint study by UNDP and the Latin American and Caribbean Climate Finance Group has found a lack of international funding for climate adaptation efforts.
The study analyzed climate change finance in six countries: Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya, Nepal, the Philippines and Zambia.
The authors call for better monitoring of climate change spending, to ensure that it is directed toward achieving the Paris Agreement and 2030 Agenda.
20 February 2018: A joint study by UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Latin American and Caribbean Climate Finance Group (GFLAC) tracked financial flows for action on climate change, finding a lack of international funding for climate adaptation efforts. The study analyzed climate change finance in six countries, and showed that more funds have been directed toward mitigation efforts than adaptation.
Multilateral funds have directed most climate change funding towards mitigation efforts, despite the need for “immediate adaptive responses.”
The two organizations are calling for better monitoring of climate change spending, to ensure that it is directed toward achieving the Paris Agreement on climate change and the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. Sandra Guzmán, GFLAC, noted that multilateral funds have directed most climate change funding towards mitigation efforts, although many developing countries are experiencing social and economic losses that require “immediate adaptive responses.”
The report outlines recommendations for countries and multilateral organizations. At the national level, the authors urge countries to adopt integrated approaches to planning and budgeting in relation to climate finance, noting that, out of the study sample, only Colombia and the Philippines have done so. They recommend identifying specific financial needs as a basis for connecting with the relevant financing, and strengthening institutional arrangements for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of climate finance. The other countries involved in the study were Guatemala, Kenya, Nepal and Zambia.
At the international level, the authors recommend balancing the allocation of climate finance between adaptation and mitigation, and making available all details related to climate funding and how it is allocated at the national and local level. They further suggest that the UNFCCC make this information available via a global platform.
The study was commissioned under the Food and Agriculture of the UN (FAO) and UNDP’s Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans Programme (NAP-Ag), and funded by the Government of Germany. [UNDP Press Release] [Publication: A Review of Domestic Data Sources for Climate Finance Flows in Recipient Countries]
Editor’s Note: The original version of this story included an incorrect quote from Sandra Guzmán, suggesting that the Adaptation Fund has directed funding towards mitigation efforts. The story has been updated given that the Adaptation Fund is focused on adaptation and does not fund mitigation projects.