2024-11-12

PARIS / LONDON / STOCKHOLM – This investigation reveals how European countries have been spending the “climate finance” that they have pledged to help developing countries tackle climate change.

Rich countries had already committed to raising $100bn a year. At the COP29 climate summit, they were tasked with agreeing on a new target to scale this finance up further, in order to meet the challenges ahead.

However, climate finance is, in the words of one of the interviewees, a “wild west”. Governments use their own methodologies and come up with their own rules when reporting this information, and there is no universal agreement on what “climate finance” even is. Moreover, the European governments whose climate finance we were investigating are often not transparent about what they count as climate finance.

While much climate finance funds legitimate projects, there are also examples of funds being used in unusual ways. Money has gone to fossil fuels and airports, while some donors report finance that may never be spent and others hand out loans that ultimately see them making a profit. Understanding how and why this happens is vital as the importance of climate finance ramps up at COP29 and beyond.

Photo by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis

Team members

Lyse Mauvais

Lyse Mauvais is an environmental journalist based in southern France.

Lyse Mauvais

Sevilay Nur Saraçlar

Sevilay Nur Saraçlar is a freelance journalist based in Turkey.

Sevilay Nur Saraçlar

Josh Gabbatiss 

Josh Gabbatiss is a climate policy correspondent at Carbon Brief.

Josh Gabbatis

Gustav Elfving

Gustav Elfving is an investigative reporter at the Swedish Radio.

Gustav Elfving

Vera Deleja-Hotko

Vera Deleja-Hotko is an investigative journalist, based in Austria. 

Vera Deleja-Hotko

Stefan Wehrmeyer

Stefan Wehrmeyer is a German software engineer.

Stefan Wehrmeyer
Supported
€11,100 allocated on 28/05/2024
ID
ENV1/2024/462

PUBLICATIONS

COUNTRIES

  • Germany
  • France
  • Sweden
  • Turkey
  • The EU
  • The UK

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