The International Climate Fund is a five-year (2011-2016), £3.87 billion fund managed jointly by the Department for International Development; Department of Energy and Climate Change; and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is a central part of the UK’s climate change response. Its goal is to support international poverty reduction by helping developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change, take up low-carbon growth and tackle deforestation.
The UK has made a major policy commitment to supporting international action on climate change. It has catalysed positive action, taking a leadership position on the need to shape and deliver an effective international agreement.
The ICF is both a significant contribution to climate finance and a tool for influencing action at the international and national levels. After a challenging start, it has built up significant momentum and is now well placed to deliver on its ambitious objectives. While many of its investments have had long lead times and remained unproven, there is evidence of early impact in a range of areas. It has pioneered new approaches in the measurement of results.
At the country level, it has worked with governments, Civil Society Organisations and some private sector entities to incorporate mitigation and adaptation goals into their development programming. ICAI found good evidence of emerging impact on the ground in our two country visits to Indonesia and Ethiopia. At the national level, the ICF is helping to create incentives for climate action. At the programme level, it is helping poor communities to adopt climate-resilient land management practices and protect against infringements on their land that would result in deforestation or degradation.
As a result of these findings, ICAI have given a rating of Green-Amber.
Graham Ward, ICAI Chief Commissioner, said: “The ICF has faced several delivery challenges, many of them related to the initial pressure to spend money quickly. It has since made good progress on addressing those challenges. There is still scope to improve the pace of implementation on what are often long-term investments. It is too early to assess overall impact, but trajectory is promising. The ICF has had a positive impact on the international financial system, for example, in the development of the Green Climate Fund and in the operation of the Climate Investment Funds.”
Commissioner Mark Foster, said, “The ICF needs to develop a more detailed private sector strategy, identifying the conditions and strategies needed for attracting different forms of private capital for low-carbon, resilient growth. These might include foreign direct investment, foreign bank lending and institutional investment. This would enable more effective use of public finance in the ICF’s priority countries and thematic areas by amplifying and accelerating capital flows.”
The full ICAI report can be found here. For further information please feel free to contact:
Sam Harrison
Engagement Manager and Press Secretary to the Commissioners at the ICAI
020 7270 6742; s-harrison@icai.independent.gov.uk