Intro

EU Member States provide financial assistance to developing countries for climate change mitigation, adaptation as well as capacity-building and technology transfer to support them in their activities to fight global warming. EU Member States are required to report on such financial and technology support provided on an annual basis. Transparency in climate finance is a key element in helping to build mutual trust and confidence between Parties to the UNFCCC, and in promoting the effective implementation of global climate action.

What the data are telling us

• In 2023, the EU and its Member States committed and provided EUR 28.6 billion to developing countries (including bilateral and multilateral support) from public sources [1].
• In addition, public interventions by the EU and its Member States together with the EIB mobilised a further EUR 7.21 billion of private finance in 2023.
• Between 2014 and 2023, bilateral and multilateral support by the EU to developing countries from public souces increased by 98%.
• In 2023, over 49% of the funding for developing countries from public sources was dedicated to either climate adaptation or cross-cutting action (involving both climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives) and 51% to mitigation actions; close to half of the total funding was committed in the form of grants.

Information on climate finance is reported by EU Member States through various reporting regimes:

• From 2021 onwards, reporting under Article 19(3) of the Governance Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 and Article 6 and Annexes III, IV and V of its Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1208. The information collected and aggregated through this reporting process underpins the overall EU figure on international climate finance, which is endorsed every year by the Council [2].
• Since 1998: Reporting on Official Development Assistance (ODA) and other resource flows to developing countries by EU Member States that are members to the OECD under the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) [3]. These data are collected in the OECD Creditor Reporting System (CRS) database. For the purpose of assisting OECD members in their preparation of National Communications or National Reports to the Rio Conventions, in 1998 the OECD DAC introduced the so-called “Rio markers” to identify activities that mainstream the Conventions’ objectives, including climate change, into development co-operation. In their reporting, DAC members are requested to indicate for each development finance activity whether the activity targets the objectives of the Rio conventions on the basis of a three-value scoring system [4].
• Starting in 2024: Reporting under the support-related provisions of the Enhanced Transparency Framework under the Paris Agreement [5], covering the information on financial, technology development and transfer and capacity building support provided and mobilised by developed countries. This information is reported in Biennial Transparency Reports, which replace reporting through Biennial Reports to the UNFCCC.

^{[1] This figure is based on total bilateral support committed plus total multilateral support provided in 2023 and  includes EU 3.18 billion from the EU budget and the European Development Fund and EUR 2.60 billion from the European Investment Bank.
[2] Between 2013 and 2020, Member States were obliged to report on support provided to developing countries under Article 16 of the Monitoring Mechanism Regulation (MMR), following the format for reporting as agreed under the UNFCCC.
[3] Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania are not part of the OECD.
[4] For more details about the Rio markers, see Short guide to the use of Rio markers | Capacity4dev (europa.eu)
[5] Decision 18/CMA.1 and Decision 5/CMA.3}