WIREDGOV

In 2021, the European Union and its 27 member states committed €23.04 billion1 in climate finance from public sources to support developing countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The Council approved the figure recently (28 October 2022), in preparation for the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27), which will take place from 6 to 18 November in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt. The figure is based on the detailed EU climate finance reporting rules laid down in the governance regulation.2

In 2021, over 54% of the funding for developing countries was dedicated to either climate adaptation or cross-cutting action (involving both climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives) and close to half of the total funding was committed in the form of grants, according to data compiled by the European Commission.

The EU and its member states are determined to continue delivering on their international climate finance commitments towards the developed countries' collective goal of mobilising USD 100 billion per year, which is applicable through to 2025. This resolve is demonstrated by the steady level of EU climate finance in 2021, which exceeds €23 billion for a second time in a row, despite the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

International public climate finance plays an important role in helping developing countries to implement the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, together with climate finance from private sources.

1. Climate finance from public budgets includes €2.50 billion from the EU budget and the European Development Fund and €2.56 billion from the European Investment Bank. The overall figure is calculated based on commitments made for bilateral and multilateral support and does not include financial support mobilised through public interventions (private finance mobilised). As certain commitments cover a multi-annual period, reported annual amounts may fluctuate over time.
2. EU member states reported data on commitments pursuant to article 19.3 of regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 (‘governance regulation’) and article 6 and annexes III-V of Commission implementing regulation 2020/1208.

• Council conclusions on climate finance in view of the UNFCCC 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27): Replacement of paragraph 16
• Climate finance: Council adopted conclusions ahead of COP27 (press release, 4 October 2022)
• Financing the climate transition (background information)
• Climate change: what the EU is doing (background information)

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