The governance of climate finance in Africa, Asia and Latin America: some critical reflections

This policy brief is based on an ISS Report on monitoring the governance of climate finance in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Africa,  Asia and  Latin America, which  combined  account for the vast majority of the world’s population,  as well as the greater part of its poor people, have historically contributed least  to  the  problem  of climate change yet face some of its most severe impacts. Climate finance, if democratically governed, can play an important role in assisting these vulnerable peoples and communities to withstand and adapt to the impacts of climate change. As the  climate  finance regime is developing,  we explore  in this   policy   brief   how   and   to   what  extent   finance   is effectively  addressing the vital needs of  developing regions. In particular, we discuss three significant regional trends in climate finance, namely the balance between adaptation and mitigation,  public versus private financing and the role of regional development banks.

The   context   for   this   briefing   paper   is   a   civil   society meeting hosted by the Corruption and Governance Programme  of  the  Institute for Security  Studies  (ISS) in Cape  Town in September 2010.  Experts based in Africa, Asia and Latin America presented papers discussing the regional contexts and the national and subnational experiences   with climate funds  in  their regions.  These papers have been compiled into an  ISS report  on monitoring the governance of climate finance. The study offers an approach that is grounded in the realities and common experiences in funding arrangements across developing countries in the three regions  studied. The issues raised here reflect on some of the findings  of that report.  

This  briefing paper is  the  first in a  series of three.  The second   will   discusses   national   and   subnational experiences   with   the   Adaptation   Fund,   Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Reduced Emissions from Deforestation  and Forest  Degradation (REDD).  The third   brief    will    present    the    priorities    and  principles required  for  developing  a  just  and  effective  system  of climate finance at national and subnational levels.

About the authors

Webster Whande was a senior researcher at the ISS at the time of working on this report. He now consults as a natural resource management specialist with OneWorld Sustainable Investments, which is based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Trusha Reddy is a senior researcher in the Governance and Corruption Division at the ISS. She works on climate change governance with a focus on climate finance, carbon trading and the energy sector. She is based at the ISS Cape Town, South Africa office.