Untangling the Finance Goal

An Introduction to the New Collective Quantified Goal

Background: Climate finance under the UNFCCC context

The NCQG will be part of a complex climate finance architecture under the UNFCCC. To understand the discussions of different elements of the NCQG, it is useful to understand the links between the NCQG and the key aspects of the broader UNFCCC climate finance landscape.

State of play of the $100 billion goal context and challenges

In 2010, Parties at COP16 adopted the Cancun Agreements, which included two key climate finance goals. First, through the fast-start climate pledges, developed countries pledged to collectively provide around $30 billion between 2010 and 2012 to support developing countries’ climate efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Second, developed countries committed to a collective goal of mobilizing $100 billion per year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries. The target date of this goal was later extended through 2025 at COP21 (UNFCCC 2016).

More than 10 years later, the Glasgow decisions at COP26 (2021) acknowledged with “deep regret” that developed countries had failed to meet their goal to jointly mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020 (UNFCCC 2021a). Ahead of COP26, the incoming UK COP26 Presidency asked Canada and Germany to produce a delivery plan on how and when developed countries would meet the $100 billion goal, which was published in October 2021 (COP26 Presidency 2021). Based on forward-looking data voluntarily provided by developed countries and multilateral development banks, as well as a technical note developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the delivery plan projected that developed countries would reach the $100 billion goal in 2023. The delivery plan was produced outside of the formal climate negotiation process, as an ad hoc exercise to take stock of the $100 billion goal at COP26 (Bos and Gonzalez 2022). The plan did not provide a breakdown of how much each developed country was expected to contribute or an in-depth assessment of the qualitative aspects of climate finance provided, nor did it reference the shortfalls on the $100 billion goal; instead, it listed guiding principles for collective action that argued for improvements in the quality of climate finance (COP26 Presidency 2021).

A year later, in October 2022, Canada and Germany released the Climate Finance Delivery Plan Progress Report on developed countries’ plan to fully deliver on the $100 billion goal (ECCC and Federal Foreign Office 2022). This progress report reconfirmed that developed countries planned to meet the goal by 2023, with similar limitations in data and commitments as found in the 2021 delivery plan. In a letter released in September 2023, Canada and Germany again restated their analysis that the $100 billion goal would be reached in 2023 (Federal Foreign Office 2023).

COP26 also mandated that the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) prepare a status update on the $100 billion goal, which was released ahead of COP27 (SCF 2022). The SCF was established at COP16 to assist the COP with, among other things, improving coherence in the delivery of climate financing and reporting on funding flows. This is the first time the SCF has had the mandate to consider accountability for the $100 billion goal (Bos and Gonzalez 2022). The mandate from COP26’s decision on long-term finance states that the SCF assessment must address the needs of developing countries and consider the delivery plan and other relevant reports (UNFCCC 2021a). The assessment flagged, among other things, that the mandate for the $100 billion goal did not identify accounting methodologies and lacked definitions to measure flows or assess efforts on addressing developing countries’ needs.

NCQG state of play: The start of formal deliberations and procedural milestones

In the decision adopting the Paris Agreement at COP21, Parties agreed that the NCQG would be set by 2025. Parties also agreed that the NCQG would be “from a floor of USD 100 billion per year in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency of implementation and taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries”(UNFCCC 2016).

At COP26, Parties decided that NCQG deliberations would take place between 2022 and 2024 and focus on the following process elements: an AHWP, submissions by Parties and non-Party stakeholders, HLMDs, and stocktakes (see Table 1).

Table 1 | Process elements to guide NCQG deliberations

NCQG process elements

Elements

Scope

Ad hoc work program

TEDs led by 2 cochairs (developed/developing countries), 4 TEDs/year, and organized based on Party and non-Party submissions

Annual reports developed by cochairs to report key findings and a summary of work program; annual reports will inform deliberations at the high-level ministerial dialogues

Regular consultations with Parties and non-Parties to inform the ad hoc work program

Submissions

Regular call for submissions from Parties and non-Party stakeholders

Technical paper on the submissions and developed by the secretariat

High-level ministerial dialogue

Summary led by the CMA president for consideration of the CMA

Stocktakes and guidance from CMA

Led by CMA in 2022 and 2023, considering outcomes of all elements; adopt the NCQG by 2024

Notes: CMA = Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement; NCQG = new collective quantified goal; TED = technical expert dialogue.

Source: WRI authors; data extracted from UNFCCC (n.d.).

The AHWP is facilitated by two cochairs—one from a developed country and one from a developing country—and includes four TEDs per year, annual summary reports covering outcomes from the TEDs, and consultations with key bodies and stakeholders. The outcomes of the AHWP serve to inform the HLMDs, stocktakes, and the NCQG negotiations, which take place under the CMA. The 2022 AHWP and the process elements of the NCQG deliberations have allowed those involved in the conversations to identify key issues relevant for determining the NCQG, particularly the main elements and different Party and non-Party views.

At COP27, NCQG negotiations did not move the conversation forward significantly. The COP27 decision focused mainly on procedural issues that could potentially improve future TEDs and HLMDs. No decisions were taken related to the substantive content of the NCQG (Alayza et al. 2022). The cochairs of the AHWP, however, clearly set out a vision for 2023 focused on developing recommendations for the various elements of the goal ahead of COP 28. This will set the scene for the final year of negotiations leading to an NCQG agreement at the sixth session of the CMA.

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