We cannot call for climate justice and equity without calling for the mobilization of finance flows toward the adaptation and mitigation needs of the world’s most vulnerable communities.
A report by the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance found that developing countries need more than $2.4 trillion per year by 2030 to address climate change. This means the delivery of climate finance to at-risk countries needs to be faster, greater, and in more responsive modalities.
The developed world’s failure to deliver on its commitment to mobilize $100 billion in climate finance annually starting in 2020, however, has eroded trust among parties. Finding common ground is critical for rebuilding trust and ensuring that both developed and developing countries deliver their fair share of actions in addressing the climate crisis.
To address this issue, The Climate Reality Project Philippines aims to create a community of practice for climate finance tracking. In partnership with our host organization, the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), we are co-creating a climate finance tracking and analysis framework that will give countries a stronger sense of ownership and influence over how climate finance is programmed in their respective countries.
This initiative aims to bolster Climate Reality’s global campaign on financing just transition.
Building on the gains of previous climate finance tracking initiatives in the Global South
Creating a shared and agreed understanding of climate finance accountability among key developing countries
Providing multilateral development banks and international financial institutions insights on how they can sequence financing in developing countries
Established in 2013 by Oxfam America, the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the Adaptation Finance Accountability Initiative (AFAI+) was piloted in Zambia, Nepal, Uganda, and the Philippines to analyze how much adaptation finance was delivered at the local level.
This groundbreaking report underscored the critical role of transparency and accountability in ensuring that those who are most vulnerable to climate change receive the support they need to adapt. It noted that the process of establishing local accountability for climate finance is just getting started, and there remains an accountability gap.
Another report that is worth mentioning is ICSC’s Philippines Climate Finance Adaptation Study Report released in 2020, which revealed that climate finance flows in the country are mostly for mitigation projects. It is crucial to assess whether there has been a balance between adaptation and mitigation finance in the years following the report.
Our climate finance accountability initiative will focus on developing cases of climate finance flows in the Philippines and other climate-vulnerable countries. Together with Climate Reality branches across the world, as well as government representatives and civil society actors in Climate Vulnerable Forum member countries to create a common guide document or framework on climate finance tracking. We will establish an online platform to house the databases, analyses, and lessons generated by this climate finance accountability work.
The implementation of this new project will be guided by the following questions:
The initiative also aims to tackle and provide recommendations on the following issues: (1) financial flows being tagged as climate-related but are being used for other purposes; (2) sources’ overreporting their contributions (climate finance should be on top of ODA provided to low and middle income countries); and (3) funding being used as one-off projects which are siloed from national strategies and approaches.
The project also aims to develop climate tracking and advisory bulletin systems that will drive conversations on necessary policy reforms both at the local and global levels.
The data generated from this initiative will provide multilateral development banks and international financial institutions insights on how they can sequence financing in developing countries.
The envisioned climate finance tracking platform will help governments and financial institutions gain a clear understanding of where investments are most needed. It will reveal the interdependencies between different climate actions. For example, investments in renewable energy might require complementary investments in grid modernization or storage solutions. By understanding these linkages, banks and governments can sequence their financing to ensure a smooth and effective transition toward a low-carbon economy.
Overall, this new climate finance project will highlight climate accountability as a shared responsibility among donor countries, governments, implementing agencies and partners, and civil society organizations.
