What Counts: Tools to Help Define and Understand Progress Towards the $100 Billion Climate Finance Commitment

This research paper provides a conceptual framework for UNFCCC Parties to define and measure progress toward the $100 billion climate finance commitment. It identifies five key variables—motivation, concessionality/source, causality, geographic origin, and recipient—and uses "onion diagrams" to map the level of political consensus for different types of financial flows. The paper also highlights critical accounting issues (such as committed vs. disbursed funds and nominal vs. subsidy costs) and the lack of a unified definition for "new and additional" finance, arguing that stakeholders should agree on principles before focusing on quantitative totals.

• The $100 billion climate finance goal is the primary political benchmark for assessing progress, though the Copenhagen Accord left the definition of "mobilization" and the priority of sources open to interpretation.
• The authors identify five key variables that determine whether a financial flow "counts" as climate finance: motivation (intent to reduce emissions or support adaptation), concessionality/source (public vs. private and the benefit to the recipient), causality (the extent to which an intervention mobilized further investment), geographic origin, and the recipient.
• There is a hierarchy of political consensus regarding the types of finance that should count, with grants and highly concessional public finance having the strongest consensus, while non-concessional loans and guarantees have weaker consensus.
• Geographic origin creates contention over whether only North-South flows count, or if domestic finance within developing countries and South-South flows mobilized by Northern interventions should be included.
• The legitimacy of the recipient is a key variable, with questions over whether funds managed by Northern-based NGOs, private companies, or multilateral organizations count if the support is in-kind rather than cash.
• Significant accounting discrepancies exist in how climate finance is reported, specifically regarding the timing of funds (committed vs. disbursed), the cost measured (nominal vs. subsidy), the size of expenditure (gross vs. net), and the scope of cost (total capital vs. incremental cost).
• The interpretation of "new and additional" finance is highly fragmented, with at least ten different commonly referenced definitions used by countries, ranging from funds from new sources (like emissions levies) to any finance provided since the ratification of the UNFCCC.

APA

Bodnar, P., Brown, J., & Nakhooda, S. (2015). What Counts: Tools to Help Define and Understand Progress Towards the $100 Billion Climate Finance Commitment. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/What-Counts-Tools-to-Help-Define-and-Understand-Progress-Towards-the-100-Billion-Climate-Finance-Commitment.pdf

Chicago

Bodnar, Paul, Jessica Brown, and Smita Nakhooda. What Counts: Tools to Help Define and Understand Progress Towards the $100 Billion Climate Finance Commitment. Climate Policy Initiative, 2015. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/What-Counts-Tools-to-Help-Define-and-Understand-Progress-Towards-the-100-Billion-Climate-Finance-Commitment.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bodnar |first1=Paul |last2=Brown |first2=Jessica |last3=Nakhooda |first3=Smita |title=What Counts: Tools to Help Define and Understand Progress Towards the $100 Billion Climate Finance Commitment |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=August 2015 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/What-Counts-Tools-to-Help-Define-and-Understand-Progress-Towards-the-100-Billion-Climate-Finance-Commitment.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bodnar2015what, author = {Bodnar, Paul and Brown, Jessica and Nakhooda, Smita}, title = {{What Counts: Tools to Help Define and Understand Progress Towards the \$100 Billion Climate Finance Commitment}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2015}, month = aug, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/What-Counts-Tools-to-Help-Define-and-Understand-Progress-Towards-the-100-Billion-Climate-Finance-Commitment.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }