8 November 2011: EU Finance Ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on 8 November 2011, adopted conclusions on climate finance. They stressed the importance of fast-start finance for the swift implementation of the Cancun Agreements and endorsed the final report on finance provided by the EU and its member States to be presented at the Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, at the end of 2011.

Ministers confirmed that, to date, a total of €4.68 billion has been mobilized by the EU to meet its fast-start commitment, with 39% of the total to fund mitigation action, 31% to support adaptation efforts, and 12% to support action to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.

Ministers also: underlined the need to work in a constructive manner towards the identification of a path for scaling up climate finance from 2013 to 2020 in the context of progress made in international negotiations, meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation; welcomed the final report prepared by international organizations for the G20 Finance Ministers on mobilizing climate financing as a good basis for discussion; and recognized that public policy and finance should play a crucial role both to address needs that private flows can only partly meet, like adaptation financing in least developed countries (LDCs), and to catalyze high levels of private investments for mitigation and adaptation activities. [Council Conclusions on Climate Finance]