Canada's international climate finance

Supporting ambitious climate action abroad

Developing countries, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable, are the hardest hit by climate change. Many have limited capacity to prevent and cope with the consequences of climate change, like severe weather, drought and flooding.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that global problems require global solutions, and, now more than ever, we must come together. Recovery efforts bring opportunities to accelerate the transition to renewable energy, reorient business and finance toward sustainable development and reconsider our relationship with nature.

Transformational financial investments are needed to help communities around the world better address climate change and adapt to its harmful consequences. International climate finance plays a key role in achieving this. Developed countries made a commitment to mobilize $100 billion USD each year in international climate finance to developing countries and small island states between 2020 and 2025.

Recognizing that climate change is a global challenge that requires global solutions, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change accepted an invitation by United Kingdom’s COP26 President to co-lead a process, alongside Jochen Flasbarth, Germany’s State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Environment Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, to further build trust that developed countries stand by their commitments and deliver on the USD 100 billion climate finance goal through 2025. On October 25, 2021, Canada and Germany, in collaboration with the United Kingdom, released the Climate Finance Delivery Plan that, based on analysis from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) of recent climate finance pledges and historical levels of climate finance, shows a positive trend with the US$100 billion goal being within reach in 2022 and with confidence that it would be met in 2023.

Canada has delivered on its 2015 $2.65 billion climate finance commitment over five years to support those that need it the most. These investments are making a difference around the world.

At the 2021 G7 Leaders’ Summit, Canada announced a doubling of its international climate finance commitment, to $5.3 billion over the next five years.

Canada’s increased commitment to climate finance recognizes that urgent action is needed to address the interconnected crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, which disproportionally affect the poorest and most vulnerable.

This commitment supports developing countries to combat climate change and biodiversity loss around the world. It will particularly help low and middle-income countries already affected by climate change to transition to sustainable, low-carbon, climate-resilient, nature-positive and inclusive development.

Canada will increase its provision of grants to 40 per cent, up from 30 per cent previously, for improved access by affected communities. This funding will help developing countries build domestic capacity to take climate action, build resiliency, and reduce pollution, including by finding nature-based solutions to climate change like protecting biodiversity and planting trees, and supporting the transition to clean energy and the phasing-out of coal.”

This commitment is one of the ways Canada is increasing its ambitious climate action.

Additional resources

• Access to climate finance
• Glossary
• The Paris Agreement
• The Pan-Canadian Framework
• Global Affairs Canada’s project browser
• Canada’s Feminist International Assistance
• Action Area Policy – Environment and Climate Action
• Climate change in developing countries
• Supporting environmental sustainability in developing countries
• Climate Finance Delivery Plan: Meeting the US$100 Billion Goal