Monitoring Climate Finance in Developing Countries: Challenges and Next Steps

At the 18th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the parties agreed to a standard format for developed countries to follow when reporting on the climate finance they provide to developing countries. Developed countries will use these formats for the first time when they submit their Biennial Reports to the UNFCCC in early 2014. Later in 2014, developing countries are expected to submit Biennial Update Reports showing the financial support that they have received. From initial attempts to measure and report climate finance by developed and developing countries, it is already apparent that information on finance provided is unlikely to match information on finance received.Aside from the reporting requirements of the UNFCCC, better financial data can help decision makers in developing countries identify gaps, improve coordination and management, and raise funds to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Better climate finance information can also enable countries to draw lessons from the use of different financial instruments and develop strategies and policies that aim to expand finance for climate change. Improved data will allow the information reported by developed countries to be cross-checked, thus promoting transparency, completeness, and accuracy. Finally, it can contribute to a more comprehensive picture of climate financial flows in relation to development assistance at the national and international levels. This working paper reports on three workshops in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, in which participants discussed some of the steps that developing countries and their international partners can take toward monitoring and tracking climate finance more effectively. More than 40 representatives from 20 developing countries, regional development banks, and national organizations attended the three workshops. Participants shared information on the limits of existing legislation and mandates, national planning and approval processes, financial management systems, efforts to coordinate among ministries and development partners, and many other unique challenges faced by the participating countries. WRI obtained additional information via a questionnaire, follow-up correspondence, and interviews with representatives of the countries

National Policies and Their Linkages to Negotiations Over a Future International Climate Change Agreement

Developing country policy makers will need to consider the national policy instruments they will need to contribute to the fight against climate change. As discussions on the international level are underway through the Bali Road Map, a national level discussion can help governments reflect on the types of policies they should use, as well as how to seek internal and external financial resources and how to reflect their views in the negotiations of a future climate change agreement. There is a rich array of policy instruments being used by developing countries to achieve national objectives, such as improving local air pollution and reducing poverty. Most of these policies also reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. These policies, measures and instruments include: regulations and standards, taxes and charges, tradable permits, voluntary agreements, informational instruments, subsidies and incentives, research and development, and trade and development assistance. Depending on the legal frameworks available to countries, these may be implemented nationally, regionally or locally. They may be supplemented with rules, guidelines and other administrative mechanisms to achieve different goals. They may be legally binding or voluntary and they may be fixed or changeable

Mitigation Technology Challenges: Considerations for National Policy Makers to Address Climate Change

This report summarizes the scope of the technology challenge needed to address climate change; the mitigation options and likely global costs; the trends in financing sustainable energy investments; and the status and issues relating to a selective set of technologies likely to be of particular interest to developing countries

Summary for Policymakers IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, Working Group III

A. Introduction 1. The Working Group III contribution to theIPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) focuses on new literature on thescientific, technological, environmental, economic and social aspects ofmitigation of climate change, published since the IPCC Third AssessmentReport (TAR) and the Special Reports on COB2B Capture and Storage (SRCCS)and on Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System (SROC).The following summary is organised into six sections after thisintroduction: - Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission trends, - Mitigation in theshort and medium term, across different economic sectors (until 2030), -Mitigation in the long-term (beyond 2030), - Policies, measures andinstruments to mitigate climate change, - Sustainable development andclimate change mitigation, - Gaps in knowledge. References to thecorresponding chapter sections are indicated at each paragraph in squarebrackets. An explanation of terms, acronyms and chemical symbols used inthis SPM can be found in the glossary to the main report

Bilateral and multilateral financial assistance for the energy sector of developing countries

This article examines trends in development assistance funding for energy and the implications for mitigating climate change. It presents financial data from bilateral and multilateral donors during 1997-2005, a period that begins with the agreement on the Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. During this period, aid for energy totalled over US$64 billion or 6-10$6-7 billion from 1997 to 2005, but preliminary evidence indicates that some efforts are being made to fill the resource gap and to mitigate climate change. Analysis suggests that there has been somewhat of a shift away from fossil fuel to lower greenhouse-gas-emitting projects. However, the increases in funding and shifts to low greenhouse gas technologies are fragile. Analysis also suggests that, unless development assistance for energy increases in the coming years, the influence of multilateral banks will diminish and their ability to encourage sustainable energy projects will decline. It should be noted that funding levels for projects do not tell the whole story. There is a continuing evolution of aid modalities under way, as development financing for project-based activities is supplemented with macro-economic and sector-wide assistance targeted at promoting policy reforms, institutional change and capacity building. Several challenges will need to be met in the future: to increase funding for the MDBs by finance ministers; to 'green' private sector funds to ensure that investments made today do not pollute tomorrow; and to overcome the lack of a common reporting format by standardizing the collection and reporting of data on investments for energy