1887

OECD/IEA Climate Change Expert Group Papers

This series is designed to make available to a wider readership selected papers on climate change issues that have been prepared for the OECD/IEA Climate Change Expert Group (CCXG). The CCXG (formerly called the Annex I Expert Group) is a group of government delegates from OECD and other industrialised countries. The aim of the group is to promote dialogue and enhance understanding on technical issues in the international climate change negotiations. CCXG papers are developed in consultation with experts from a wide range of developed and developing countries, including those participating in CCXG Global Forums.

The full papers are generally available only in English.

The opinions expressed in these papers are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OECD, the IEA or their member countries, or the endorsement of any approach described therein.

English

Tracking Climate Finance

What and How?

Developed countries have committed under the international negotiations to jointly mobilising USD 100 billion per year by 2020 for climate change mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. Yet consistent and comprehensive data to track this commitment are currently lacking. Such data will also help governments and the private sector understand how much and what type of climate finance is flowing today, so as to be able to evaluate progress and effectiveness of international climate finance flows. Estimates based on available data are highly uncertain and incomplete, highlighting several challenges in establishing a robust tracking system. A more political question is what should be the internationally agreed definition of “climate finance” or, absent agreement on that, what types of flows or activities might count towards the USD 100 billion? On the more technical side, challenges include clearly defining flows and sources of international climate finance, determining the cause and effect of flows, and establishing the boundaries of finance flowing towards climate change action. This paper considers what data are currently available to track climate finance, and demonstrates the complex nature of financial flows through examples across international and domestic as well as public and private flows. The examples highlight questions on how to count and track climate finance.

English

Keywords: adaptation, investment, greenhouse gas mitigation, finance, climate change
JEL: Q54: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Environmental Economics / Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming; H87: Public Economics / Miscellaneous Issues / International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods; G15: Financial Economics / General Financial Markets / International Financial Markets; F30: International Economics / International Finance / International Finance: General; F53: International Economics / International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy / International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations; Q56: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Environmental Economics / Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
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