By Andressa Lima (UFPA)
In a world increasingly affected by climate challenges, access to reliable and up-to-date information on climate finance is essential for public managers, policymakers, and civil society to make informed decisions and drive effective climate action. With this in mind, the Center for Climate Finance for the Global South (CFC-GS) has launched the CFC-GS Climate Finance Tracker — a tool that centralizes and presents essential data on financial flows that are driving the transition to a low-carbon economy in an accessible and interactive way.
The Tracker addresses a critical gap: climate finance data is often scattered across technical reports, spreadsheets, or hard-to-navigate portals, which hinders public understanding and the tracking of climate goals. This tool seeks to bridge that gap by offering a centralized, visual, and dynamic dashboard that simplifies access to key information. In its first version, the Tracker compiles data from the Climate Funds Update (CFU) — a well-established source of information on multilateral climate funds. The data includes cumulative figures on pledges, deposits, and project approvals, with updates available through January 2025. Users can filter information by themes such as adaptation, mitigation (general or REDD+-focused), and multiple objectives. Downloadable Excel spreadsheets are also available for more detailed analysis.
A key feature of the Tracker is its focus on the Global South — a region that has contributed less to historical greenhouse gas emissions but suffers disproportionately from the impacts of the climate crisis. Developing countries need adequate and predictable financial resources to implement adaptation, mitigation, and sustainable development actions aligned with their national priorities. With this tool, we aim to increase transparency and monitoring of climate finance flows, promote climate justice, and strengthen local capacities for planning, accessing, and managing international financial resources.
The CFC-GS acknowledges that climate finance is complex and involves multiple actors and sources. Therefore, the Tracker will be continuously expanded with new data and categories. Upcoming updates will include:
- Bilateral public climate finance, provided by cooperation agencies and development banks from developed countries;
- Multilateral public climate finance attributed to developed countries, via multilateral development banks and climate funds;
- Climate-related export credits officially supported by export credit agencies from developed countries;
- Private finance mobilized by bilateral and multilateral public initiatives.
These data are crucial for monitoring compliance with the longstanding commitment made by developed countries to mobilize US$100 billion annually in climate finance by 2020 — a target first agreed upon at COP15 in Copenhagen (2009) and reaffirmed in the Paris Agreement (COP21, 2015). Although reiterated in subsequent negotiations, this promise was only effectively met in 2022, two years late, according to recent OECD estimates.
At COP29, held in Baku, countries finally reached a new level of ambition. After lengthy negotiations, delegates agreed on a historic decision: a new global climate finance goal of at least US$300 billion annually by 2035, replacing the previous US$100 billion target valid from 2020 to 2025. This new commitment reflects both the urgency of the climate crisis and the growing need for financing to support mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage — particularly in developing and vulnerable countries.
This political breakthrough sets a new horizon for monitoring and accountability. To ensure this new goal becomes reality, it is essential to establish tracking mechanisms with public, accessible, and up-to-date data. This is precisely where the CFC-GS Climate Finance Tracker fits in: expanding visibility and understanding of how climate finance is being mobilized — by whom, where it is going, and for what purpose.
Given the magnitude of the climate crisis, financing flows must be transparent and accessible. Overcoming global challenges demands more than promises — it requires concrete, reliable, and structured information to support strategic decisions and ensure accountability. The CFC-GS Climate Finance Tracker aims to be part of this transformation: a tool for monitoring, analysis, and mobilization, serving all those who believe that data transparency is key to turning climate goals into real outcomes for the most affected communities.
Access the CFC-GS Climate Finance Tracker and start exploring the data today!
Together, we can turn data into meaningful action — ensuring that climate finance reaches those who need it most, especially in the Global South, where the challenges are greatest.
