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The Climate Fund Info website provides a user-friendly starting point for anyone interested in climate funds and other forms of climate finance aimed at combating climate change and global warming.
The best site for understanding the details of the negotiations that took place at COP 17 in Durban is probably this one. Of course, if you want to look at the official UNFCCC page, go here.
The main starting point for climate finance is still the 2010 Copenhagen Accord, which had this to say about climate funds: "We decide that the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund shall be established as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention to support projects, programme, policies and other activities in developing countries related to mitigation including REDD-plus, adaptation, capacity-building, technology development and transfer."
"New multilateral funding for adaptation will be delivered through effective and efficient fund arrangements, with a governance structure providing for equal representation of developed and developing countries. A significant portion of such funding should flow through the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund."
In 2011 we saw steps both forwards and backwards on climate finance. It seems likely that we need also new proposals and fresh ideas that could be additional to the official process on the Green Climate Fund. One such proposal is presented here.
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Notwithstanding the current events, the number of climate funds is in any case on the rise and for the sake of simplicity, only major international climate funds are included in these pages. This means that all forms of climate finance operating from a strictly national, regional or local perspective is excluded, regardless of size.
The emphasis on this site is on funds that aim to mitigate climate change, less attention is given to climate funds that focus on adapting to climate change. This reflects our view that while adaptation is an increasingly important necessity, it is still mitigation that is the crucial, decisive issue for us all.
The climate funds are ranked by their importance, which is measured solely by their volume in money terms. Any climate fund is only as good as the volume of finance that is behind it.
promises + money = action <=> no money = no action
1. World Bank Climate Investment Funds
The Climate Investment Funds (CIF), including the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF) were approved by the Board of Directors of the World Bank on July 1, 2008 and endorsed by the G8 nations in the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit Leaders Declaration of July 8, 2008. G8 members have thus far pledged approximately US$5,7 billion to the funds, which gives the CIFs a real possibility to become the most important international financial tools to combat climate change. The most significant financial pledges have so far (January 2009) been made by the United States (US$2 billion), Japan ($1,2 billion), the United Kingdom(approx. $1,1 billion), Germany(approx. $710 million) and France (approx. $260 million). The other pledges are in the order of $100 million or less.
The Clean Technology Fund is a climate fund that will aim to promote low-carbon economies by helping to finance deployment in developing countries of commercially available cleaner energy technologies through investments in support of credible national mitigation plans that include low-carbon objectives. The Strategic Climate Fund will help more vulnerable countries develop climate-resilient economies and take actions to prevent deforestation.
Developed and developing country governments gave an important signal for action on adaptation on January 30th, 2009 by deciding which countries will be offered funding under a pilot program within the CIFs. Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Tajikistan and Zambia have been invited to take part in the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience, which will provide about US$500 million for scaled up action and transformational change in integrating climate resilience in national planning. See the press release for more.
It should be noted that these funds operate mainly with loans, not grants. It is unclear, how the developing countries are expected to pay the loans back some day.
2. The Global Environmental Facility
Since 1991, the Global Environment Facility has been a major climate fund that has provided over $7.4 billion in grants and generated over $28 billion in co-financing from other sources to support over 1,950 projects that produce global environmental benefits in 160 developing countries and countries with economies in transition. GEF funds are contributed by donor countries. In 2006, 32 donor countries pledged $3.13 billion to fund operations between 2006 and 2010.
As the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC, GEF allocates and disburses about $250 million dollars per year in projects in energy efficiency, renewable energies, and sustainable transportation. Moreover, it manages two special funds under the UNFCCC — the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF).
The Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) was established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at it seventh session in Marrakech and is managed by the Global Environment Facility. The fund addresses the special needs of the 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs), which are especially vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. This includes preparing and implementing National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) to identify urgent and immediate needs of LDCs to adapt to climate change.
So far the GEF has mobilized voluntary contributions of about $537 million for the LDCF and $242 million for the SCCF.
3. The Adaptation Fund
http://www.adaptation-fund.org/
The Adaptation Fund has been established by the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
The Fund will be financed with 2% of the Certified Emission Reduction (CERs) issued for projects of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and with funds from other sources.
4. Clean Development Mechanism
http://cdm.unfccc.int/index.html
The Clean Development Mechanism is not a climate fund as such, however it included in this listing for the sake of clarity. The central feature of the Kyoto Protocol (66 kB) is its requirement that countries limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. By setting such targets, emission reductions took on economic value. To help countries meet their emission targets, and to encourage the private sector and developing countries to contribute to emission reduction efforts, negotiators of the Protocol included three market-based mechanisms – Emissions Trading, the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation.
The CDM allows emission-reduction (or emission removal) projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2. These CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialized countries to a meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
The mechanism stimulates sustainable development and emission reductions, while giving industrialized countries some flexibility in how they meet their emission reduction limitation targets.
The projects must qualify through a process designed to ensure real, measurable and verifiable emission reductions that are additional to what would have occurred without the project. Operational since the beginning of 2006, the mechanism has already registered more than 1,000 projects and is anticipated to produce CERs amounting to more than 2.7 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, 2008–2012.
However, it should be noted that the CDM is principally a catalyst that facilitates geographical changes in where carbon is produced. It’s primary purpose is not to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change as such, and it is therefore usually not included as a climate fund.
5. Clean Energy for Development Investment Framework
http://go.worldbank.org/7W3DZHKNF0
The Clean Energy for Development Investment Framework is not really a climate fund; it is the World Bank’s response to the G8 request for an Investment Framework on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development, in the context of the Gleneagles Communique which was issued in July 2005. The World Bank presented the outlines of key elements associated with such a work program in April 2006 in a paper titled "Clean Energy and Development: Towards an Investment Framework”.
This framework is still very much work in progress, and it remains to be seen what its final role will be after the 2008 announcement of the new World Bank Funds (see point 1).
6. Carbon Finance
The World Bank Carbon Finance Unit (CFU) uses money contributed by governments and companies in OECD countries to purchase project-based greenhouse gas emission reductions in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The emission reductions are purchased through one of the CFU's carbon funds on behalf of the contributor, and within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or Joint Implementation (JI).
The role of the Bank's Carbon Finance Unit is to catalyze a global carbon market that reduces transaction costs, supports sustainable development and reaches and benefits the poorer communities of the developing world.
Once again, it should be noted that the CFU is principally a catalyst that facilitates geographical changes in where carbon is produced. It’s primary purpose is not to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change as such.
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For more detailed information on ALL the different Funds available, plese visit, e.g., Climate Funds Update here.
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