Developed countries reach $100 bln annual climate finance target two years late – OECD

Developed countries finally made good on their pledge to mobilise 100 billion U.S. dollars in climate finance for developing countries in 2022, two years later than promised, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said. In 2022, developed countries provided and mobilised 115.9 billion U.S. dollars, a significant 30 percent increase compared to one year earlier. Of this amount, 91.6 billion dollars came from public sources, and more than 20 billion was private financed, leveraged by public finance. Most of the total amount of climate finance was earmarked for mitigation, and less than one third for adapting to the consequences of climate change. The organisation's report confirms a report based on preliminary data from late last year.

"It is an important signal that developed countries have finally surpassed the 100-billion-dollar level that was originally promised already for 2020, although financial support is still far from meeting the urgent needs in developing countries to confront the worsening climate crisis," Jan Kowalzig, senior policy advisor of NGO Oxfam Germany, said. He said that climate finance remained a key concern. Most of it is provided as loans, "often not even on concessional terms but at market rates, exacerbating the already crushing debt burdens in many lower income countries."

In 2009, developed countries agreed at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to “mobilise” 100 billion U.S. dollars per year by 2020 for climate action in developing countries. The Paris Agreement of 2015 also reaffirmed the 100 billion U.S. dollar pledge and its signatories decided that this sum should be given each year between 2020 and 2025. The text of the agreement refers to meeting the target with support from private, public, multilateral and alternative sources, and says that 50 percent of the funds would have to go to mitigation and 50 percent to adaptation. Since then, the pledge has become a benchmark for evaluating the developed nations’ overall commitment to climate action, but developing country governments, economists and NGOs have said that 100 billion is not enough. Developed countries failed to reach the target in 2020 and 2021.

The German government has said that the country continues to aim to provide six billion euros in international climate finance to developing countries from 2025, despite increasing pressure on the public budget. However, envisioned budget cuts, for example for the development ministry, could threaten that goal, Oxfam's Kowalzig said.