At the UNFCCC COP29 in 2024, Parties agreed on a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance to accelerate implementation of the Paris Agreement. The decision establishes two interlinked quantitative elements for supporting climate action in developing countries: a call for all actors to scale up financing to at least USD 1.3 trillion annually by 2035, and a goal for developed countries to take the lead in mobilising at least USD 300 billion annually by 2035. This paper analyses the scope of these two elements and implications for measuring progress towards them. Tracking the USD 300 billion goal will require activity-level data to avoid double-counting and allow for granular analyses. Monitoring the USD 1.3 trillion call could rely on more aggregate indicators to capture trends. The paper identifies three priorities ahead of the first NCQG progress report by the UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance in 2028: (i) affirming the scope of the USD 300 billion goal, (ii) strengthening data foundations for the USD 1.3 trillion call, and (iii) testing tracking methodologies suited to each element. Advancing these areas, along with better assessing the quality and effectiveness of climate finance, will be essential to ensure the NCQG is operational, measurable, and impactful.
