Can lessons from aid transparency improve climate finance?

Today we’ve launched a new study with Publish What You Fund that examines the intersection between aid transparency and climate finance.

As countries start to report on their climate funding, researchers are poring over the results to make sense of the funding flows; Are pledges being delivered? Is the money new and additional? Does it add up and how should it be measured?

A key lesson from aid transparency is that while high quality statistics are crucial, so too is detailed, accessible and timely information to meet the needs of different information users – international, national and local. As climate finance begins to flow in earnest, and in larger volumes, the key questions will not just be ‘Are developed countries meeting their commitments?’ but ‘Are resources being effectively used in addressing climate change impact?’

The International Aid Transparency Initiative offers the potential to provide a bridge between different systems and users, unlocking data from individual databases and reports, and enabling standardisation and flexibility.

Ultimately, the question is not how to build the most elegant system to track volumes of finance, but how to use transparency to enhance and demonstrate the effectiveness of international collaboration in creating both environmental and economic benefits. We hope this paper provides a useful basis to bring together those working on different areas of this question to explore synergies and gaps and to work together towards this common aim.

Read ‘Towards Climate Finance Transparency‘.