While they go by various names, national climate finance plans (and sector-based finance plans) can help create a national vision and framework for financing key climate investments and targets. Anecdotally, the quality and detail of these plans vary, with some providing clear, realistic, and comprehensive frameworks for financing climate priorities and others offering less of a plan than vague financing objectives. Focusing geographically on low- and middle-income-countries (LMICs) in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, the START team identified 14 national climate finance plans and assessed each plan against specified research criteria.
Since no standard template exists, these plans varied in content, length, and level of detail. The degree to which they included the voices of marginalized communities, highlighted local needs, and specified financing instruments also varied widely. Based on the START team’s assessment, Kenya and Cambodia have the most comprehensive plans, while plans from the Philippines, Nepal, and Pakistan did not include sufficient detail to understand how they would achieve their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Some unique, and potentially good practice features of reviewed plans include strong engagement with a broad range of key stakeholders (Kenya), inclusion of broader development impacts, and linking of in-country climate policy with implementation strategies (Liberia).
The START team successfully delivered a final presentation to DPAF staff and leadership, along with a spreadsheet deliverable assessing plans in detail, a summary report that presented key insights and takeaways from the literature and key informant interviews, and copies of the 14 plans that were assessed for the project.
