Financing Climate Action: Equity Challenges and Practical Solutions

It is estimated that $1 trillion to $6 trillion per year (up to 2050) needs to be invested globally if the world is to stay below the 2°C global warming ceiling of the Paris Agreement and to meet its adaptation goals. Currently, investments stand at about $630 billion per year, way below the original target. And although great efforts have been made in the climate-finance area, more than 70% of the funds deployed have gone to one sector, renewable energy, followed by the transportation sector. The agriculture sector has been severely underfunded, even though it produces 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This leaves the most vulnerable communities at risk as the effects of climate change are already impacting this sector intensely. In this policy brief, four principles are proposed as a foundation when deploying funds into climate-change mitigation and adaptation projects: equity, creativity, impact, and transparency. Climate finance has an enormous potential to make bigger impacts when the right principles are applied.