Top multilateral development banks (MDBs) increased their financial commitment to climate action in 2020 to $66 billion, up from $61.6 billion in 2019, according to the 2020 joint report on MDBs' climate finance. 

 

Some $38 billion, or 58 percent of the sum, were allocated for low- and middle-income economies, the report stated.

 

The total climate co-finance allocated in 2020, besides MDBs' resources, amounted to $85 billion. Together, they totalled more than $151 billion, with private direct mobilisation of $5.9 billion, according to the report.

 

“To solve the climate crisis, we must mobilise trillions of dollars. Today’s report shows that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, MDBs provided crucial support to countries worldwide to build back better for a greener future. MDB climate finance helped leverage important funding from other sources, including from the private sector. At the EIB, we are delighted to report record climate finance for 2020. Despite still much work to do in this area, we saw an important and encouraging step up in our support for climate change adaptation, which in 2020 doubled compared to previous years,” said EIB Vice President Ambroise Fayolle.

 

During the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in 2019, MDBs announced their expected joint annual climate action finance to 2025, which include at least $65 billion, with $50 billion of MDB climate finance for low- and middle-income countries – an increase in adaptation finance to $18 billion – and private direct mobilisation valued at $40 billion.

 

The report said that the MDBs will continue to improve their tracking and reporting of climate finance in the context of their commitments to ensure consistent financial flows to the countries’ long-term, low-carbon and climate-resilient development pathways, as stated in the Paris Agreement.