Climate Finance Fundamentals

This series of short introductory briefings on various aspects of international climate finance are designed for readers new to this critical area. The briefs outline the principles of public climate finance; the emerging global climate finance architecture; and address the quantity of financial flows going to developing countries through the multilateral climate change funds in the areas of adaptation, mitigation and forest protection (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, REDD-plus). Several look specifically at the climate funding situation for specific regions of the world. These have been written every year since 2011 and are available via the search bar.

01

The Principles and Criteria of Public Climate Finance

This Brief looks at principles and criteria applicable to the mobilization, administration, governance, disbursement, and utilization of climate change funding.

02

The Global Climate Finance Architecture

This Brief investigates the evolution of climate finance, describing the main actors and initiatives that have been active to-date.

03

Climate Finance Thematic Briefing – Adaptation Finance

This Brief looks at the challenge for the international community to ensure adequate levels of funding for adaptation activities in vulnerable developing countries.

04

Climate Finance Thematic Briefing – Mitigation Finance

This Brief describes the funds that have been created by industrialized countries to finance emission reductions in developing countries and examines how these funds can work with private capital to secure the level of funding needed.

05

Climate Finance Thematic Briefing – REDD+ Finance

REDD-plus finance has received a lot of attention over recent years. This Brief describes the funding initiatives in support of this major international mitigation strategy and raises some ongoing challenges for the equitable delivery of climate finance.

06

Climate Finance Regional Briefing: Latin America

This Brief describes international climate finance that is being channelled to countries in Latin America to fund national climate change actions. It looks at funding across the major themes of adaptation, mitigation and REDD-plus, as well as identifying the principal actors within the region.

07

Climate Finance Regional Briefing: Sub-Saharan Africa

Africa is the region that has contributed the least to global emissions but is the most vulnerable to climate change. This brief assesses the extent to which international climate finance is flowing to support African countries to increase resilience and adopt low-emission development pathways.

08

Climate Finance Regional Briefing: Asia

Asia is home to a diverse assortment of countries, including some of the world’s most populous and vulnerable. It is the region that has received the most international climate funding, which so far has concentrated on supporting mitigation activities.

09

Climate Finance Regional Briefing: Middle East and North Africa

The Middle East and North Africa is a region that is both vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and shares some responsibility for such change, as measured in terms of per capita emissions. International public sources that fund climate change projects in the region are extremely scarce.

10

Gender and Climate Finance

This note outlines some key principles and actions for making climate financing instruments more responsive to the needs of men and women as equal participants in decision-making and as beneficiaries of climate actions and supportive of gender equality more broadly.

11

The Green Climate Fund

This note describes the Green Climate Fund design process, and outlines key points of tension.

12

Climate Finance Regional Briefing: Small Island Developing States

This brief explores climate financing for this especially vulnerable group of island nations.