14 April, 2015

Why 2015 will determine what kind of climate fund the GCF will be

Authors

Felix Fallasch, Bianka Kretschmer

The 9th GCF Board meeting that took place in Songdo, South Korea, 24-26 March 2015 aimed at bringing the Fund closer to its goal of approving the first funding proposals at its October meeting to have in place a first portfolio of projects and programmes by COP 21 in Paris. This would be a key input to the negotiations under the UNFCCC, building momentum towards adopting an ambitious agreement in 2015 and demonstrating the Fund’s capacity to become a credible player in the international climate finance architecture.

This goal puts a lot of pressure on the Board to deliver, this year, the last key decisions to put in place all the necessary elements to receive, assess and approve funding proposals.

Climate finance

Publications

A Practical Guide to Understanding and Establishing Climate Finance Units

This policy brief provides actionable insights for the development and effective implementation of Climate Finance Units within governments to mobilise and coordinate climate finance in alignment with national goals.

Calculating the loss and damage finance gap: a scoping and feasibility exercise

At COP28, delegates agreed to operationalise a fund to compensate vulnerable countries coping with loss and damage caused by climate change. This report proposes a method for how to calculate how much finance the Global South needs for loss and damage.

How can event attribution science underpin financial decisions on Loss and Damage?

With climate extremes hitting nations across the globe, disproportionately burdening vulnerable developing countries, funding for loss and damage is an acute need. Attribution science can provide useful information for decision makers.

Using existing databases to report on loss and damage in Biennial Transparency Reports under the UNFCCC

Calculating financing needs to respond to loss and damage requires response activities to be costed. However, comprehensive assessments of current and future loss and damage costs are largely unavailable. This briefing proposes using existing databases as proxies in the interim.

Article 6.4 progress update: work of the Supervisory Body on the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism

The Article 6.4 mechanism, now known as the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism, allows countries to trade reductions in carbon emissions in a manner that goes beyond zero-sum offsetting, to achieve their commitments under the Paris Agreement. This briefing aims to update Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries on the standards and procedures that have been adopted by the supervising body (Article 6.4) to inform the design of projects.

What good looks like: G7 climate policy 2024 update

This brief outlines seven key policy recommendations for this June’s G7 summit that, if adopted, would demonstrate the ambition and leadership needed to keep the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit in sight.

Climate justice and loss and damage: perspectives from the global south

This article outlines the loss and damage debate through a climate justice lens with particular emphasis on Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries. It examines the latest developments of the new loss and damage fund including operationalisation.

Tripling renewables by 2030: interpreting the global goal at the regional level

At COP28, governments agreed to triple global renewable capacity by 2030. This report breaks down what a 1.5ºC-aligned renewables rollout would look like at the regional level and calculate the associated investment needs.

From NDC 1.0 to NDC 2.0: what has changed in the NDCs of West African LDCs?

This study examines the first and second Nationally Determined Contributions of the eleven least developed countries in West Africa, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Utilisation of EU funds for the transformation of the transport sector

This report looks at EU funding that can support the decarbonisation of the transport sector in Lithuania, Romania, Poland and Hungary, and why emissions reduction projects can be at a competitive disadvantage.

Why offsets are not a viable alternative to cutting emissions

In this report we assess the state of the global science around offsets, and, in light of that, examine the impact of the Australian Government’s proposed changes for the country’s industrial emitters.

Uncompensated claims to fair emission space risk putting Paris Agreement goals out of reach

Based on scenarios underlying the IPCC's 6th Assessment Report, in this paper we construct a suite of scenarios that combine the following elements: (a) two quantifications of a moral claim to the remaining carbon space by South Asia, and Africa, (b) a 'highest possible emission reduction' effort by developed regions, and (c) a corresponding range for other developing regions. Our findings raise important questions of perspectives on equity in the context of the Paris Agreement including on the critical importance of climate finance.

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Decarbonisation targets and 1.5℃ pathways

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