Pacific Climate Change Finance Tracking Tool

The Pacific region is one of the most vulnerable regions to the negative impacts of climate change and disasters. Climate finance is an essential element of the response to climate change and weather-related disaster events. For Pacific Island Countries (PICs), external finance is a critical supplement to domestic climate finance. This reliance on external finance is also expected to be an enduring feature of the Pacific climate finance landscape. Funding to support developing countries has increased over the past years and is projected to increase dramatically in the future.

At the national level, tracking climate finance is important to allow policy makers to plan more effectively on how to use climate finance and as a component of measuring effectiveness on the ground. With greater information, governments are able to make decisions about funding allocations in line with national priorities; monitor the effectiveness of externally supported initiatives; and verify the support that is being provided by developed countries. Better financial data can also help decision makers identify gaps and improve management of investments in sectors and areas of greater vulnerability.

At the international level, tracking climate finance flows enables a more complete and accurate picture of how much funding is going to countries for climate change activities. It also improves accountability and transparency of the financial flows related to commitments made under the UNFCCC.

The Pacific Climate Change Finance Tracking Tool prototype has been developed and with the support of the USAID funded "Institutional Strengthening for Pacific Island Countries to Adapt to Climate Change" (ISACC) Project. The project is implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC), in partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

The need to develop systems and tools to effectively track climate change and disaster risk finance has been a common finding of national climate finance assessments undertaken across the Pacific region. These finance assessment form the basis of this tool and have been led by PIFS, with the support of the USAID ISACC project and a number of development partners including the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the German Development Agency (GIZ). The relevant assessment reports from the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are provided below, with the full set of reports accessible here.