27/10/2021 - Members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) today issued a joint Declaration ahead of COP26 committing to align official development assistance (ODA), which totalled USD 161 billion in 2020, with the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
The Declaration states: “As the custodians of the governance of ODA, we commit to aligning our ODA with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Climate and environmental impacts must be considered in all ODA spend, including in sectors not traditionally associated with climate and the environment. Alignment with the Paris Agreement will recognise the unique circumstances of partner countries and support their own low carbon, climate resilient development pathways and transition towards net zero economies, while minimising the risk of creating stranded assets.”
This Declaration:
1. Prioritises the adaptation needs of developing countries, especially Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). It commits to:
- Increasing finance for adaptation
- Reducing barriers to accessing finance, particularly for SIDS
2. Commits to supporting partner countries’ own plans for just and equitable transitions towards net zero, by:
- All DAC members agreeing to end new ODA for unabated international thermal coal power generation by the end of 2021
- Developing an approach for how ODA can best be used to help developing countries transition to net zero
- Prioritising support for technologies that accelerate progress towards net zero energy systems
3. Acknowledges that we cannot reduce poverty and leave no one behind unless we also tackle climate change. It commits to:
- Being more transparent in climate finance reporting, especially ODA, by the end of 2022
- Applying the development effectiveness principles (country-led, results focussed, mutual accountability and transparency and inclusive partnerships) more systematically across our development co-operation, especially for climate and environment.
4. Recognises the need to mobilise more finance from a variety of sources (including from the private sector), and to incentivise innovation. It commits to:
- Supporting partners wherever possible to finance risky, but potentially transformative, new ideas.
- Promoting innovation and well-functioning markets to increase access to sustainable, clean and renewable energy.
DAC Chair Susanna Moorehead said, “Developing countries need visibility and a voice at COP26. If you’re a poor woman or man in an LDC or a SIDS, climate change is already making it harder to feed your children and make a livelihood. We can’t reduce poverty and leave no one behind without also tackling climate change and helping poor countries to adapt. That is what the DAC has agreed to do in its landmark Declaration.”
OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann welcomed the Declaration, saying: “This is a landmark Declaration that aligns development co-operation with the important climate goals of the Paris Agreement. It demonstrates the OECD’s commitment to address the needs and challenges of developing countries. And, it shows great leadership by the DAC in pursuit of new policies to achieve better development outcomes. This Declaration also shows how important new donor commitments to increase public climate finance from next year are, and that more finance is needed from all sources.”
Read the complete DAC Declaration
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The DAC is an OECD committee that serves as a forum for 30 donors and observer bodies to agree on international principles, rules and other standards for development cooperation.
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