A recent analysis by the ONE Campaign exposed significant discrepancies in climate finance commitments from developed nations, with almost two-thirds of the pledged $343 billion between 2013 and 2021 either unreported as disbursed or loosely linked to climate initiatives. Nigeria, facing a $4.5 billion shortfall, underscores the substantial deficit in pledged climate funds.
According to the ONE Campaign, a non-profit advocacy group, their assessment of open-source data on international climate finance revealed glaring gaps in transparency, casting doubt on the reported allocation of funds by developed countries and multilateral institutions. This lack of transparency, as emphasised by David McNair, the executive director of global policy at ONE, highlights a significant accountability deficit in monitoring these commitments.
“There’s no kind of auditing or checking of what is reported. There’s no kind of accountability,” McNair emphasised to Reuters.
The analysis raised concerns about developed nations reporting projects unrelated to climate goals and diverting funds to projects like coal power plants and coastal hotel developments under the guise of climate finance, further straining promised funding resources.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) compiled the data based on countries’ submissions and their expenditure classifications. However, both groups did not immediately respond to requests for comments regarding this analysis.
Despite the pledge of $100 billion annually from developed nations to assist developing countries in emissions reduction and climate change adaptation, the lack of definitive guidelines on what can be classified as climate finance has exacerbated the financial disparity.
In the analysis, Nigeria faced a significant deficit, receiving 75% less than the pledged amount, resulting in a $4.5 billion shortfall. Kenya also experienced a $4.5 billion deficit, while Senegal encountered a $2.8 billion shortfall in received funds against promised amounts.
In response to these disparities, ONE advocated for enhanced disclosure regulations, transparent methodologies, and validation of reported data to ensure proper investment in clean energy and resilience against climate change impacts.
“There’s a need to address this issue so that countries actually have enough money to invest in clean energy and resilience,” the ONE Campaign stressed, highlighting the urgent need for rectifying these financial discrepancies to meet climate goals effectively.
