Global Finance For Climate Action In Developing Countries Reaches $62 Billion

The public and private global financing raised for climate action in developing countries reached $62 billion in 2014, according to the OECD.

According to a new study released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and conducted in collaboration with Climate Policy Initiative, public and private finance that was mobilized by developed countries for climate action in developing countries grew from $52 billion in 2013 to an impressive $62 billion in 2014.

Mobilized climate finance in 2013 and 2014, by funding source (USD billions)

The Climate Finance in 2013-14 and the USD 100 billion goal report was published this week, and is aimed at providing ” a robust, up-to-date estimate of public and private climate finance mobilised by developed countries towards their UNFCCC 2010 Cancun commitment” — namely, to jointly raise $100 billion per year by 2020 to address climate change needs in developing countries. Specifically, the commitment stands:

Developed country Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) committed to a goal “of mobilising jointly USD 100 billion per year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries… from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources” (UNFCCC, 2010).

“Our estimates paint an encouraging picture of progress,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. “Developed country mobilised climate finance in 2014 is estimated to total USD 62 billion a year. We are about halfway in terms of time and more than halfway there in terms of finance, but clearly there is still some way to go.”

The report provides preliminary estimates of public and private funds raised, and comprise public money provided by donor governments through various instruments and institutions, including non-concessional loans, as well as private funding directly mobilized by public financial interventions. In specific, public financing accounted for more than 70% of all moneys mobilized during 2013-14, while private finance made up more than 25%, with export credits the remainder.

Of particular interest is the fact that, while the report has excluded all financing related to coal projects from the aggregate estimate of funds mobilized, the authors of the report note that “Japan and Australia consider that financing for high efficiency coal plants should also be considered as a form of climate finance.” Therefore, the report notes that Japan has provided an additional $3.2 billion for such projects across the project’s time line.

The full report is available from the OECD.