OECD Climate Finance report: figures stubbornly low and developed countries shirk responsibilities
21 May 2026
In response to the OECD report on climate finance released today, the scale of climate finance mobilised and provided remains very far from the US$300bn per year goal and even further away from meeting developing countries’ financial needs to fund their climate action.
This is against the backdrop of the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran and across the Southwest Asia and North Africa region, which is creating a severe economic shock for developing countries that simultaneously reduces their ability to fund climate action and increases their vulnerability.
According to the report, developed countries provided and mobilised a total of USD 132.8bn (2023) and USD 136.7bn (2024), ‘exceeding’ the US$100bn climate finance goal. Those numbers have to be read within a broader context of steep Official Development Assistance cuts since 2024.
Responding to the OECD report, Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network International, said: “Let’s be clear: while the OECD’s latest figures show developed countries technically ‘exceeding’ the USD 100 billion goal – reaching USD 136.7 billion in 2024, this number tells a dangerous story of accounting tricks, donor escape routes, and a rapidly closing window for climate justice.
With ODA cuts, rising military spending, and the devastating US-Israeli war in Iran compounding economic shocks for developing nations, the truth is simple: what the world needs is not more volatile private mobilisation or loan-heavy MDB finance. What’s required is a massive, predictable, and grant-based scale-up of non-debt-inducing public climate finance. A good starting point would be for developed countries to deliver on their commitment to at least triple adaptation finance and fill the fund to address loss and damage. This is possible – the money is there, but the political will is sorely lacking.“
A range of civil society climate policy advocates also shared their reflections about the latest OECD report on climate finance:
Wellington Madumira, National Coordinator at Climate Action Network Zimbabwe, said: “The OECD’s latest climate finance figures may signal progress on paper, but for millions of Africans living on the frontlines of the climate crisis, the reality remains one of broken promises and deep injustice. Africa contributes the least to global greenhouse gas emissions, yet communities across the continent continue to endure devastating droughts, floods, food insecurity, displacement, and mounting economic losses. Climate finance must move beyond accounting exercises and political declarations toward predictable, accessible, and grant-based support that directly reaches vulnerable communities. Developed countries carry a historic responsibility to deliver finance rooted in climate justice — finance that strengthens adaptation, addresses loss and damage, protects livelihoods, and restores trust in the global climate response before it is too late.”
Sehr Raheja, Programme Officer, Climate Change and Green Economy, Centre for Science and Environment (India) said: “The report shows developed countries exceeded the $100bn goal for the third consecutive year, but the target was met two years late and remains modest against the new $300bn NCQG goal and aspirational $1.3tn target. The report also raises important questions around quality and equity, for instance, loans continue to dominate public climate finance, and the share of concessional bilateral loans declined. Lastly, most mobilised private finance continues to flow to middle-income countries and mitigation projects, reiterating that private capital follows bankability rather than climate vulnerability or need.”
Nobert Nyandire, Executive Director, Sustainable Environmental Development Watch, said: “For many countries in the Global South, climate finance is not charity; it is a matter of justice, solidarity and survival. While OECD figures claim progress beyond the USD 100 billion goal, the reality on the ground tells a different story: adaptation needs are rising, debt burdens are deepening and communities are facing escalating climate shocks with shrinking support. It is deeply ironic that developed countries celebrate transparency and ambition in climate finance while simultaneously cutting Official Development Assistance and increasing military spending. Climate finance cannot become a numbers game driven by loans and private interests; it must deliver predictable, grant-based and accessible support rooted in equity and historical responsibility.”
Gaïa Febvre, International Policy Lead, Réseau Action Climat, said: “The numbers may suggest progress, but the reality is far more concerning. A large share of climate finance still takes the form of loans that deepen the debt burden of the most vulnerable countries, while adaptation remains structurally underfunded despite the urgency of climate impacts already unfolding. In this context, the pathway toward the USD 300 billion per year goal looks uncertain, weakened by budget cuts and a lack of clear forward-looking commitments.
The case of France is particularly telling: climate finance is still heavily reliant on loans, and no post-2025 climate finance target has been announced, raising serious questions about the coherence and continuity of its commitments.”
Sven Harmeling, Head of Climate at CAN Europe, said: “A further increase in climate finance is urgently needed to support countries and communities in the Global South to confront the climate crisis. While the OECD report signals that such an increase took place in 2024, many European countries then cut their climate finance spending in 2025. These harsh cuts breach their obligations to provide such support, undermines Europe’s reputation as a credible partner, and is against Europe’s strategic interests in every sense of the word.”
Marlene Achoki, Global Climate Justice Policy and Advocacy Lead, CARE International, said: “While the OECD report suggests progress on climate finance, the numbers still do not add up for countries on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Adaptation remains the poor cousin of climate finance, receiving only a fraction of the support needed as climate shocks intensify. Much of what is counted as climate finance, continues to be delivered as loans , deepening debt burdens instead of building resilience. Developed countries must urgently fulfill their commitment to scale up adaptation finance, with far greater support provided through grants rather than debt-creating instruments.”
Teresa Anderson, Global Lead on Climate Justice, ActionAid International said: “There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors in this report. The OECD is providing very little real money to countries on the front lines of the climate crisis, but is trying to bump up their numbers by counting loans in their figures. Climate-hit countries in desperate need of funding are being forced to take on more debt. They are caught between a rock and a hard place.
“It’s worth noting that OECD countries provided just under USD 30 billion in grants for climate finance in 2024. That’s the same amount that the US spent in just two months of conflict in the Middle East this year. It’s time for governments to start prioritising spending on the planet’s survival instead of fuelling its destruction.”
Lily Hartzell, Senior Policy Advisor, Public Banks and Development, E3G said: “Providing $130 billion per year in climate finance to developing countries for the last two years didn’t happen by accident, but through concerted effort by governments in developed economies. Their political commitments, planning, and coordination offer the hope that they will achieve the $300 billion/yr climate finance goal by 2035 – but continued efforts will be needed. Wealthier countries must continue to collaborate, and must commit to continuing the scaling of climate finance as a powerful route to investment in global security and prosperity, particularly in relation to adaptation where financing of all kinds has barely increased in recent years, with countries off track to meet their COP30 commitment to double public finance from 2019 levels by 2025.”
Notes to Editors
OECD press release: Developed countries exceed USD 100 billion climate finance goal for third consecutive year
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