What happened
Wealthy countries have delayed setting out climate-finance commitments for periods beyond this year or next, according to reporting by İklim Haber. The absence of published plans is creating uncertainty for developing countries that depend on external funding for climate resilience and lower-carbon development.
An assessment by the Natural Resources Defense Council and E3G, cited in the report, indicates that developed countries may supply roughly US$229 billion a year by 2030. Multilateral development banks are expected to provide around US$185 billion of this amount.
The US$300 billion annual objective was agreed at COP29 under the New Collective Quantified Goal framework. The report says developing countries are expected to receive US$300 billion annually from industrialised-country governments by 2035, alongside about US$1 trillion from other sources.
France, Germany, Australia and Japan have not yet made public new climate-finance targets. Australia is chairing COP31 negotiations in Antalya, where finance is among the most contested issues.
Why it matters
Unclear public commitments make it harder for recipient governments to prepare climate programmes and use public funding to draw in private capital. This affects countries seeking funding for responses to extreme weather and for investment in lower-carbon economies.
The cited assessment suggests that, if the European Union maintains its current contribution of about US$36 billion annually, previously announced pledges from the United Kingdom, Canada and smaller countries would still leave a gap of roughly US$7 billion. Meeting the wider target therefore depends on further commitments or continued support from other contributors.
A separate analysis by Carbon Brief, also cited by İklim Haber, found that bilateral climate finance to developing countries could decline by 70% if countries do not replace commitments once their current targets expire.
What's next
The key benchmark is 2030, when annual developed-country climate finance is projected to reach about US$229 billion. The longer-term target is US$300 billion annually by 2035, with additional funding expected from other sources. Future announcements by countries without new targets will determine whether the projected shortfall narrows.
