4 November 2013: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released the report on the outcomes of the extended work programme on long-term finance and the report of the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) for consideration at the upcoming Climate Change Conference to be held in Warsaw, Poland, from 11-22 November 2013.

The report on the outcomes of the extended work programme on long-term finance (FCCC/CP/2013/7) includes a summary of technical discussions held on: ways for mobilizing scaled-up climate finance; and enhancing enabling environments and policy frameworks for facilitating the mobilization and effective management of climate finance in developing countries. The programme co-chairs, Mark Storey (Sweden) and Naderev Saño (the Philippines) also provide reflections on the way forward, based on which the COP is expected to agree on a decision.

The overarching issues addressed are: transparency of finance; the definition, tracking and accounting for financial flows; and adaptation finance. The co-chairs stress the need to engage different government agencies, as well as the linkages between the work programme and the 2015 agreement process. On scaling up climate finance, they recommend regular and standardized reporting of climate finance from developed countries, possibly in the form of biennal reports and voluntary supplementary annual information until 2015. Highlighting adaptation funding as the most crucial issue in the discussions under this topic, they emphasize the relevance of public sector finance for adaptation, and recommend making available further analysis on measures for scaling up private finance to adaptation and climate resilience programmes.

The report of the SCF (FCCC/CP/2013/8) contains information and recommendations on the work of the SCF in 2013, including: the report on the first forum of the SCF; draft arrangements between the COP and the Green Climate Fund (GCF); the outcome of the discussions on the draft updated guidelines for the fifth review of the financial mechanism of the Convention; elements of draft guidance to the Global Environment Facility (GEF); elements of draft initial guidance to the GCF; the objective and scope of, and a tentative timeline for, the first biennial assessment and overview of climate finance flows; and the workplan of the SCF for 2014–2015. The Committee, co-chaired by Diann Black Layne (Antigua and Barbuda) and Stefan Schwager (Switzerland), developed this report based on the discussions during three meetings in 2013 and inter-sessional exchanges, and the information contained in some of the annexes are expected to inform discussions by the Conference of the Parties (COP) with a view to adopt decisions on, inter alia, further guidance to the GCF and the GEF. [Publication: Report on the Outcomes of the Extended Work Programme on Long-Term Finance] [Publication: Report of the SCF]