As the benefits of
climate change mitigation are global, it cannot be considered as a promotion of
the economic development and welfare of developing countries as the main
objective. Indeed, development is the core eligibility criterion of Official
Development Assistance (ODA). Consequently, this puts a question mark on the
ODA-eligibility of climate change mitigation.
Donors may object that their support for mitigation
also contributes to development. However, the geographical and sectoral
allocation of ODA-related climate finance for mitigation is very different from
the rest of ODA. A majority of ODA-related climate finance for mitigation is
targeted to middle-income countries, only small shares of these resources are
allocated to low-income and most vulnerable countries. One could therefore
wonder how these allocation decisions relate to donors’ commitment to the core
values underpinning ODA.
Should climate change mitigation not count as ODA and
with the hypothesis of a constant effort of bilateral providers, these last
ones could reallocate approximately 20 % of ODA to countries with lower income
and greater vulnerabilities. Mitigation projects could then be funded through
alternative sources, such as national climate budgets, export and other trade
finance or the private sector, without exhausting aid budgets on global public
goods.
