The German fast-start finance contribution

One in a series of Open Climate Network (OCN) papers, this assessment looks at the Fast-Start Finance (FSF) contributions from Germany, prepared by Germanwatch in cooperation with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) .

Germany is one of the richer countries in the developed world, and has been an important historic contributor to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It has also shown leadership by increasing climate finance in recent years and met its self-defined FSF pledge. Germany committed EUR 1.26 billion during the FSF period 2010 to 2012, as part of the overall EU FSF pledge of EUR 7.2 billion. Germany has pioneered a unique approach to sourcing FSF by using auction revenues from the European emissions trading sceheme.

This assessment is one in a series of Open Climate Network (OCN) studies, developed in consultation with a range of experts that aims to shed light on how developed countries are defining, delivering, and reporting FSF using a common research methodology.

The objectives of the assessments are to:

• Clarify what major contributor countries have counted as FSF.
• Quantify FSF, by contributor country, in terms of the institutions through which it flows, the financial instruments it comprises, and the ends – particularly the objectives and recipients– it serves.
• Identify best practices and areas for improvement in reporting on climate finance.