The Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance (ZCRA) has released two reports underscoring climate finance-related challenges ahead of COP29 in November. The first paper, ‘Making climate finance work for all’, makes five key recommendations for the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) – a successor climate finance target due to be formalised during COP29 and to raise the US$100 billion floor set in 2009, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries in efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, boost resilience, help communities adapt to climate change, and cover loss and damage costs. “It is critical that this NCQG reflects the lessons learned over the last 15 years, restores trust in the multilateral process, and equips countries to respond to rapidly escalating challenges,” the ZCRA said. “This report sets out key principles and five tests that can help ensure the NCQG is robust, all of which are underpinned by a core principle of fairness.” The second report, published in collaboration with global affairs think tank ODI, explores the collective aspects of the NCQG – looking at which countries should pay and how much, based on their historical responsibility for climate change and financial capacity. Since 2021, ODI and the ZCRA have jointly published an annual report evaluating which developed countries are paying their ‘fair share’ of climate finance. In 2022, only 12 countries contributed fairly to the US$100 billion goal: Norway, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Japan, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium and Finland. Meanwhile, Australia, Spain, Canada and the UK stand out for their relatively poor performance – with the vast majority of the climate finance gap is due to the US not paying its fair share. ODI and the ZCRA recommended a “burden-sharing mechanism” be included in the NCQG to provide clarity and hold countries accountable.
