COVID-19 Recovery and Climate Finance

The document examines the intersection of pandemic recovery and climate finance, highlighting that most global recovery funds are not contributing to greening economies. It emphasizes the failure of developed nations to meet the $100 billion annual climate finance pledge and advocates for a new goal of $1.3 trillion per year by 2030 to support African countries. The briefing identifies significant barriers to accessing finance, including complex procedures and a lack of climate data, and suggests using Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to hold governments accountable for the climate impact of their recovery spending.

• Global pandemic recovery spending has largely failed to support green transitions, with over $12.7 trillion committed worldwide but only a few countries investing in sectors that green the economy. Approximately three-quarters of G20 countries are spending recovery funds in ways that negatively impact their climate commitments, while South Africa and Russia are continuing policies that extend negative climate impacts.
• Developed countries have failed to meet the pre-2020 pledge to mobilise $100 billion annually in climate finance for developing nations. Consequently, the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) is advocating for a post-2025 mobilisation goal of at least $1.3 trillion per year by 2030, requesting that funds be split evenly between mitigation and adaptation and provided significantly via grants.
• African countries face a disproportionate financial burden for adaptation, spending up to 9% of their GDP on such actions. There is a critical need for a global financing mechanism and a quantified adaptation goal under the Paris Agreement to support these costs.
• Developing countries encounter systemic barriers when accessing climate finance, including overly complex application processes, high co-financing demands, and a lack of necessary climate data and modelling to establish 'climate rationales' for projects. This often leads to adaptation projects being rejected as general development projects.
• There is a mismatch between the priorities of developing countries and the expectations of funders; for instance, despite commitments to equal disbursement in the Green Climate Fund, funds have primarily been directed toward mitigation rather than adaptation.
• The document proposes using Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as a tool for accountability, allowing countries to update their commitments to track how recovery funds are spent and measure progress toward climate targets.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2021). COVID-19 Recovery and Climate Finance. https://saiia.org.za/research/covid-recovery-and-climate-finance/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. COVID-19 Recovery and Climate Finance. 2021. https://saiia.org.za/research/covid-recovery-and-climate-finance/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=COVID-19 Recovery and Climate Finance |date=1 December 2021 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/covid-recovery-and-climate-finance/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2021covid19, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{COVID-19 Recovery and Climate Finance}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/covid-recovery-and-climate-finance/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }