Power, Responsibility, and Accountability

This report by the World Resources Institute analyzes the legitimacy of climate finance institutions, focusing on the redistribution of power, responsibility, and accountability between developed contributor countries and developing recipient countries. It argues that for climate finance to be effective and legitimate, existing institutions must be reformed and new mechanisms created to enhance recipient country ownership and national capacity.

• A new global deal on climate finance is expected to significantly redistribute power, responsibility, and accountability, shifting more control toward recipient countries and emerging economies to enhance national and local ownership and investment effectiveness.
• The report asserts that both the reform of existing financial institutions and the creation of new global and national mechanisms are necessary. Many current institutions have historically supported fossil fuel-led growth and have not yet integrated climate change impacts into their strategies.
• There is a deep ideological divide between developed and developing countries regarding institutional preferences: developed countries prefer using existing institutions they control, while developing countries view these as advancing donor interests and prefer new institutions.
• To improve legitimacy and effectiveness, the international community should prioritize strengthening the capacity of national institutions in recipient countries, ensuring they are transparent and accountable to their own citizens and the international community.
• The report emphasizes the need to diversify climate finance sources and decouple them from the informal power of contributor governments through the use of independent revenue sources like new levies or long-term commitments.
• Civil society and non-state actors are identified as critical for monitoring climate finance governance, though they need to increase their technical rigor and authority to engage more effectively in decision-making processes.
• The 2009 Copenhagen Accord established a goal for developed countries to provide approximately USD 30 billion from 2010–2012 and to jointly mobilize USD 100 billion annually by 2020 for developing countries, though disputes remain over the source and delivery of these funds.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Power, Responsibility, and Accountability. https://www.wri.org/research/power-responsibility-and-accountability

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Power, Responsibility, and Accountability. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/power-responsibility-and-accountability.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Power, Responsibility, and Accountability |url=https://www.wri.org/research/power-responsibility-and-accountability |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendpower, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Power, Responsibility, and Accountability}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/power-responsibility-and-accountability}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }