COP21 Q&A: What Role Does Finance Play in the Paris Outcome?

The document outlines how climate finance is essential for enabling countries to increase their climate ambitions and build resilience. It identifies four 'crunch issues' for the Paris outcome: determining who provides finance and at what levels, encouraging domestic mobilization of investment, balancing funding between mitigation and adaptation, and ensuring transparent reporting of financial flows.

• Developed countries are expected to maintain their lead in providing climate finance, specifically continuing the commitment made in 2009 to mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020, with the need to increase support significantly after 2020.
• To keep global warming below 2 degrees, approximately $6 trillion per year in infrastructure investments must be shifted toward low-emissions and resilient options by 2030. This requires a signal to public and private investors to reduce support for high-emissions activities, such as coal power, and promote renewable energy.
• There is a recognized need to balance funding between climate mitigation and adaptation, as adaptation funding has historically lagged. Some countries have proposed a target of $32 billion per year for adaptation finance by 2020, with a further target to be set for 2025.
• Accountability for climate finance depends on transparent reporting. Developed countries should provide information on future and past flows, while developing countries may report on finance received to help hold developed nations accountable to their commitments.

APA

World Resources Institute (2015). COP21 Q&A: What Role Does Finance Play in the Paris Outcome? https://www.wri.org/insights/cop21-qa-what-role-does-finance-play-paris-outcome

Chicago

World Resources Institute. COP21 Q&A: What Role Does Finance Play in the Paris Outcome? 2015. https://www.wri.org/insights/cop21-qa-what-role-does-finance-play-paris-outcome.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=COP21 Q&A: What Role Does Finance Play in the Paris Outcome? |date=9 December 2015 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/cop21-qa-what-role-does-finance-play-paris-outcome |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2015cop21, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{COP21 Q\&A: What Role Does Finance Play in the Paris Outcome?}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2015}, month = dec, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/cop21-qa-what-role-does-finance-play-paris-outcome}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }