Title: Climate finance towards vulnerable countries: evidence from the Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Authors: Syed Mahbubur Rahman; Mokbul Morshed Ahmad

Addresses: School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, PO Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand; College of Economics, Management and Information System, University of Nizwa, Birkat Al Mawz, Oman ' School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, PO Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand

Abstract: Many countries highly vulnerable to climate change are from developing parts of the world. Lack of sufficient financial resource compels them to seek sponsors from international sources to address climate change. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is the largest multi-donor funding mechanism that supports the climate vulnerable countries to initiate projects on mitigation and adaptation. This study reviews the financing pattern of the GEF, channelled through various agencies, towards highly climate vulnerable countries chosen from the recent three vulnerability indices prepared by different organisation and institutions. The GEF database is used to analyse the flow and volume of investment towards the selected countries. The study finds that GEF allocation is not even-handed among the climate vulnerable countries, and involvements of the GEF agencies with respect to allocation, distribution and focal area are not equivalent either. However, the GEF has leveraged co-financing more than four times the money it has provided.

Keywords: climate finance; GEF; Global Environment Facility; climate change; vulnerable countries; mitigation; adaptation; investment flows; co-financing; vulnerability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGE.2015.075137

International Journal of Green Economics, 2015 Vol.9 No.2, pp.199 - 214

Received: 24 Dec 2014
Accepted: 23 Nov 2015
Published online: 04 Mar 2016 *

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