Climate funding transparency key to success, say academics

Smaller grassroots organisations, such as local community groups and villages, will need greater access to funds if they’re to implement their plans to mitigate or adapt to climate change, say York academics.

Writing in The Lancet Planetary Health, the University of York’s COP26 fellow Dr Jessica Omukuti and Professors Rob Marchant and Piran White point out that low and middle-income regions in the Global South, such as Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, are now stressing their need to make climate finance a key part of COP26 discussions.

The COP26 Presidency, currently headed by the UK, convened a ministerial meeting earlier this year in which they recognised that although climate funds are increasing, there are still barriers to accessing funds, particularly for those to support local adaptation. The funds are essential for nations and communities that need support to implement plans to tackle climate change.

The team says this presents an opportunity to make climate finance more democratic and transparent, and ultimately ensure funds go to the people who need them the most.

Read ‘COP26 as an Opportunity to Further Democratise the Green Climate Fund’