Financing for Climate and Development

82% of the G20’s energy supply still comes from fossil fuels, according to the 2018 Brown to Green Report, released today. In Saudi Arabia, Australia and Japan fossil fuels make up even more than 90% of the energy supply, with little or no change in recent years. The 20 major economies play a key role for achieving the Paris targets because they alone account for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

This factsheet is made for civil society and aims to enhance their understanding of the GCF’s Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme. It provides a clear explanation of which activities are supported, how much funding is available and how these resources can be accessed in order to strengthen countries’ engagement with the Fund as well as maximize the impacts of funded projects or programmes locally. It is published under the project “CSOs readiness to the GCF – focus Africa” jointly implemented by Germanwatch and CARE International with support from a consortium of African networks and civil society organisations.

In this paper, we explore the Fund’s role in the future climate finance architecture, taking into account past and current debates in international climate negotiations. The paper also seeks to inform these debates, particularly discussions related to operating modalities, safeguards, and governance of the Adaptation Fund.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has the ambition to become the most important multilateral instrument in climate finance. Africa has become a focus region for the GCF early on. As it is unlikely that the intended paradigm shift towards low-carbon emissions and climate-resilient economies and societies (GCF founding mandate) can be achieved without broad civil society (CS) engagement, it is essential to scale-up existing civil society capacities to advocate for ambitious proposals, bring on-the-ground expertise to the table, help embed GCF-funded activities in a broader societal support for transformation and increase accountability of national authorities.

In the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, the international community committed to limit global warming to well below 2°C, if not 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. World leaders also committed to foster adaptation and to make all financial flows consistent with climate resilient, low greenhouse gas development. The G20 as group of the leading industrial nations and emerging economies, being responsible for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions, provides an important platform for joint action towards implementing the Paris Agreement.

The landmark Paris Agreement and the Agenda 2030 provide a new framework for transitioning to a GHG-neutral and climate-resilient future, and towards truly sustainable development. The G20 as a forum of the leading industrial nations and emerging economies provides a platform for joint action towards achieving these global goals. Shifting global investment towards green finance, sustainable infrastructure and the global transition to renewable energy is one of the most urgent tasks ahead, and can only be reached by international cooperation.

This is the Climate Finance Advisory Service (CFAS) Daily Briefing. Produced at key meetings and negotiations by the CFAS expert team, the Daily Briefings try to provide a concise, informative update on key discussions that have taken place at each day of the meeting and give an overview of substantive points of action or progress.

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are a centrepiece of the new global climate regime which was agreed at COP21 in Paris and form the foundation for the pathway towards a low-carbon and climate resilient development. This paper analyses specifically the financial aspects included in the INDCs and aims to contribute towards a definition of comprehensive financing strategies for implementing NDCs. It provides an analytical overview of the financial aspects that have been included in the INDCs submitted so far and provides a discussion of options for financing NDC implementation.

With its mandate to promote a paradigm shift towards low-emissions and climate-resilient development pathways the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has reached full operationalisation in 2015 and is resourced with over US$ 6bn (with more than 10bn pledged). According to its initial results management framework the GCF aims to achieve a "reduction of emissions from buildings and cities" while at the same time "increasing the resilience of infrastructure and the built environment to climate change threats" (GCF, 2014). However, clear operationalisation pathways for the GCF to reach the subnational level are still lacking to date. This publication offers some suggestions on how to shape the GCF so that its finance flows better suit the needs of cities.

After the adoption of the Paris Agreement all eyes move towards implementing climate action. The Adaptation Fund provides an important function to assist developing countries in measures against climate impacts. Following a civil society perspective this briefing outlines selected talking points on agenda issues of the 27th meeting of the Adaptation Fund Board scheduled for March 2016 in Bonn, Germany.