Making climate finance transparent

A series of events organised by Transparency International examined approaches to fighting corruption in climate finance.

Climate change mitigation and adaptation to the impacts of climate change cost money. Many developing and emerging countries are particularly affected by the impacts of climate change although they have thus far produced comparatively small quantities of greenhouse gas emissions. These countries are therefore receiving financial support from industrialised countries. But what happens to the many millions of Euros that flow into the fight against climate change each year? Who receives this money, and how is it spent? International climate finance can only function over the long term if it is managed in a target-oriented manner that is both reliable and accountable. In this sense, anti-corruption measures play a key role. A series of 'Climate Finance Integrity Talks' took up this issue and shed light on the challenges and possible solutions from a range of different perspectives. Transparency International (TI) initiated these expert talks within the context of a project of the International Climate Initiative (IKI), which concluded at the end of February 2014. Five such talks were held in different locations, with the final event held in Geneva in January 2014 in cooperation with the Gold Standard Foundation. The focus was on the risks of corruption and fraud in measures aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). A detailed article on the outcomes of this event is available here: www.cdmgoldstandard.org

Within the framework of the IKI project, TI established a global network of civil society, governmental and private sector actors dealing with transparent management of international climate finance. In addition to the 'Climate Finance Integrity Talks', the project also organised online training activities and assessed relevant processes as well as the institutions working on climate finance in the partner countries of Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, Kenya, the Maldives, Mexico and Peru. Furthermore, five studies were conducted to analyse the mechanisms of seven key climate funds for fighting corruption and achieving accountability.

These studies and additional information about the project can be found here:
www.transparency.org