• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • News

    Ballesteros: What Counts as New Climate Financing?

    By Ma. Rizza Leonzon // 15 June 2010

    Establishing a common reporting system to track “new and additional” climate financing pledged at the Copenhagen summit should be the agenda in Cancun, Mexico. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change can help advance this plan, an expert says.

    “The immediate next step is to secure a decision at COP16 in Cancun, Mexico that mandates a relevant body under the Convention to formulate draft guidelines for reporting financial information in a comparable, transparent, complete, accurate and efficient way,” according to Athena Ballesteros, a senior associate at the World Resources Institute.

    WRI estimates that some USD31.32 billion has so far been pledged as part of the Copenhagen commitment to “provide new and additional resources, including forestry and investments through international institutions, approaching USD30 billion for the period 2010–2012.” However, the nature and way of channeling these funds remain in up in the air.

    “Some of the funds have yet to go through national budget appropriations processes,” Ballesteros wrote in a World Bank blog. “A number of pledges are often restated or renamed commitments made in the past, but with some added resources.”

    Ballesteros argued that “new and additional” financing must ensure an increase in climate money relative to previous and not involve redirection of financing.

    “To date, Parties to the [UNFCCC] have yet to achieve consensus on a clear and specific definition of additionality that can be applied uniformly to developed country financial pledges. As a result, countries have proposed various methods for defining additionality of their fast-start finance,” she said.

    Furthermore, countries are proceeding with specifying what portion of their climate financing will be used for mitigation, as well as adaptation measures, Ballesteros said, citing the European Union as an example, which intends to earmark 63 percent of its 2.39 billion-euro (USD2.9 billion) climate aid in 2010 for mitigation while the remaining 37 percent will back adaptation measures.

    “The need for greater attention to adaptation fast-start funds should be addressed if we want a strong focus on building institutional and technical capacity in national-level decision-making processes that are inclusive, transparent, and accountable and ensure participation,” the WRI expert said.

    • Environment & Natural Resources
    • Funding
    • Banking & Finance
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Ma. Rizza Leonzon

      Ma. Rizza Leonzon

      As a former staff writer, Rizza focused mainly on business coverage, including key donors such as the Asian Development Bank and AusAID.

    Search for articles

    Related Stories

    Climate financeOpinion: The public-private key to unlocking $1.3T in climate finance

    Opinion: The public-private key to unlocking $1.3T in climate finance

    Devex NewswireCircus minimus: What happened at COP16 2.0 in Rome

    Circus minimus: What happened at COP16 2.0 in Rome

    Climate financeGreen Climate Fund expands its reach with first regional offices

    Green Climate Fund expands its reach with first regional offices

    Philanthropy As the US retreats from climate finance, can philanthropy fill the gap?

    As the US retreats from climate finance, can philanthropy fill the gap?

    Most Read

    • 1
      How low-emissions livestock are transforming dairy farming in Africa
    • 2
      Opinion: Mobile credit, savings, and insurance can drive financial health
    • 3
      The UN's changing of the guard
    • 4
      Opinion: India’s bold leadership in turning the tide for TB
    • 5
      USAID's humanitarian bureau is under pressure and overstretched
    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement