Financing Climate Action and the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of 17 Developing Countries

The analysis finds that the COVID-19 pandemic has decreased international climate finance and led developing countries to reallocate or reduce domestic climate flows, resulting in delayed climate projects. The document highlights a persistent gap between available finance and the resources required to meet Paris Agreement goals and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), exacerbated by the pandemic and natural disasters. It recommends that developing countries implement context-specific climate-finance tracking systems and that international financial institutions increase concessional funding.

• The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a decline in both international and domestic climate finance for developing countries, leading to the delay of climate-related projects. Some countries had already seen domestic finance decreases before the pandemic due to climate impacts and natural disasters.
• There is a significant gap between the available climate finance and the amount needed to implement Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and achieve Paris Agreement goals, a gap that is being widened by the pandemic.
• Developing countries generally lack the baseline information and tracking tools necessary to accurately determine their climate-finance needs and monitor domestic or international flows.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Financing Climate Action and the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of 17 Developing Countries. https://www.wri.org/research/financing-climate-action-and-covid-19-pandemic

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Financing Climate Action and the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of 17 Developing Countries. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/financing-climate-action-and-covid-19-pandemic.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Financing Climate Action and the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of 17 Developing Countries |url=https://www.wri.org/research/financing-climate-action-and-covid-19-pandemic |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendfinancing, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Financing Climate Action and the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of 17 Developing Countries}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/financing-climate-action-and-covid-19-pandemic}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }