Unpaved Roadmap

After much anticipation, a few weeks ago the long-awaited “Roadmap to US$100 billion”  was finally released by 21 developed countries. The plain white cover of the report led ECO to hope the report’s authors were saving money on design to meet their commitments made back in Copenhagen and Cancun!

ECO’s hopes were only half met by what was inside the drab exterior. Last year’s OECD/CPI report claimed that these countries had delivered $62 billion in climate finance in 2014. The “Roadmap” that has been tabled this year is a bit more carefully worded, but still fails to give sufficient direction and impetus to spur further discussion on climate finance.

ECO has some suggestions for what a climate finance roadmap should look like to secure an outcome that would give all Parties clarity and confidence. At COP22 Parties need to work together to clarify:

  • An adequate scale-up of adaptation finance
  • Which portion of counted climate finance will be grants or grant equivalent
  • How the most vulnerable countries are being prioritised
  • Climate finance that will be provided by 2020 (for those countries that have not submitted any INDCs)
  • The role developed nations foresee for private capital
  • Work on how to provide loss and damage finance, over and above $100bn

Country parties should use the current negotiations about modalities of climate finance accounting under the SBSTA to agree on a common, clear methodology that would ensure transparency and accountability.