Evaluating the resource mobilisation strategies and sustainability of national climate change funds

This report by Dalberg Global Development Advisors, commissioned by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), evaluates the resource mobilisation strategies and sustainability of National Climate Change Funds (NCCFs). It defines NCCFs as national-level entities that collect and channel climate finance to mitigation and adaptation projects. The report identifies significant funding gaps in developing countries, analyzes the performance of 13 operational NCCFs across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and provides a best-practice handbook for NCCFs to define their vision, build institutional capacity, and engage investors.

• There is a substantial gap between the climate finance required by developing countries and the actual flows. The World Bank estimates a need of USD 100 billion per year for adaptation, while the UNFCCC estimates USD 400 billion per year for green development paths. In 2012, flows were USD 182 billion (a USD 318 billion shortfall), and this dropped to USD 165 billion in 2013.
• NCCFs have had a minimal impact on global climate finance flows. In 2013, they received and disbursed less than USD 400 million, which represents less than 0.2% of total climate finance flows for that year.
• Funding for NCCFs is highly concentrated in a few countries. Of the USD 2.5 billion pledged to NCCFs since inception, USD 2.1 billion went to four funds in Brazil and Bangladesh: the Amazon Fund (USD 1,000 million), the Brazil National Fund on Climate Change (USD 525 million), the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (USD 378 million), and the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (USD 188 million).
• Bilateral donors are the primary source of NCCF funding, providing over 60% of total funds. Public domestic sources account for 37% (with ring-fenced taxes at 21% and government allocations at 16%), while other sources like development banks and private investors contribute less than 1%.
• Several internal barriers hinder the ability of NCCFs to mobilise resources, most notably the lack of a well-defined vision and strategy, weak institutional capacities (such as poor fiduciary standards), and a lack of demonstrable transparency.
• The report identifies three main institutional models for NCCFs: government-run or legislated funds (which benefit from national ownership), UNDP-managed funds (which provide an incubation environment and fiduciary credibility), and independent organisations (which have more mobilisation options but face greater challenges in building credibility).
• Private sector finance is generally only successfully leveraged for projects that are commercially viable, which typically means these funds focus on mitigation rather than adaptation.
• The proposed resource mobilisation approach for NCCFs consists of three primary steps: defining the vision and strategy (including a theory of change and benchmarking), building required institutional capacities (across people, tools, governance, and partnerships), and finding and engaging additional investors through a prioritisation process.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2015). Evaluating the resource mobilisation strategies and sustainability of national climate change funds. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-Dalberg-NCCF-Resource-Mobilization-Report_final.pdf

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. Evaluating the resource mobilisation strategies and sustainability of national climate change funds. 2015. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-Dalberg-NCCF-Resource-Mobilization-Report_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=Evaluating the resource mobilisation strategies and sustainability of national climate change funds |date=July 2015 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-Dalberg-NCCF-Resource-Mobilization-Report_final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2015evaluating, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{Evaluating the resource mobilisation strategies and sustainability of national climate change funds}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2015}, month = jul, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-Dalberg-NCCF-Resource-Mobilization-Report_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }