On climate and finance
1. Public climate finance, including $100 billion that developed countries have agreed to provide to developing countries each year, supports critical infrastructure for adaptation, resilience and the new renewable energy-based economy.
2. Based on the most recent assessment conducted by developed countries, total climate finance counting towards the $100 billion commitment continues to fall short, reaching $78.9 billion in 2018.
3. Although adaptation finance increased more rapidly between 2016-2018, its overall share of total public finance was only 21 percent in 2020. Adaptation costs for developing countries may be in the range of $140 billion to $300 billion per year by 2030, and $280 billion to $500 billion annually by 2050.
4. Private finance could provide the biggest pool of capital. If sufficient international public climate finance is deployed to mobilize private resources, it will be possible to move from the billions to the trillions required.
5. Over 160 firms with $70 trillion in assets have joined forces to steer the global economy towards net-zero emissions and deliver Paris Agreement goals.
6. The combined global fiscal response to the pandemic was $18 trillion as of March 2021. The same decisiveness is imperative in the response to the climate crisis.
7. COVID-19 recovery packages have not been green, by and large, despite general public support for a green recovery. In the Group of 20 countries, $250 billion has been directed to fossil fuels as opposed to only $146 billion to clean energy.
8. The severe fiscal impacts of COVID-19 limit the ability of many developing countries to invest in recovery as well as climate action. The pandemic pushed half of low-income and least developed countries into debt distress or high risk of it. While some debt relief is available for 34 countries at risk of default, 9 countries are not eligible. They include small island developing States with acute climate vulnerabilities.
9. Needed infrastructure investment is around $90 trillion by 2030; new infrastructure must be compatible with climate goals. Investing in resilient infrastructure in developing countries could deliver $4.2 trillion over the lifetime of new infrastructure. An investment of $1, on average, yields $4 in benefits.
10. Switching to a clean economy could raise $2.8 trillion through carbon price revenues and the redirection of fossil fuel subsidies to public investments.
Sources: UN 2020 (1-4, 7), UN Climate Action (5), UN 2021 (6, 8), World Bank (9, 10).