¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ

Language selection

Search

Canada’s climate finance for developing countries

Table of contents

For more information on Canada’s international climate finance, please visit Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC)  page.

Climate change in developing countries

Climate change and biodiversity loss do not respect borders. They represent existential threats in their own right and are catalysts for instability, conflict, starvation, and pandemics.

According to the World Health Organization, climate change is affecting human lives and health in multiple ways. Climate change threatens the essential ingredients of good health. These include clean air, safe drinking water, nutritious food supply, and safe shelter. It has the potential to undermine decades of progress in global health. Climate change, including extreme events and incremental changes, affects every country and can have devastating effects on communities and individuals. Climate change impacts, such as unpredictable rainfall or increases in temperatures, are expected to cause more deaths. Between 2030 and 2050, some 250,000 more deaths per year are expected from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress. Developing countries are the most affected by climate change and the least able to afford its consequences.

Our global efforts to reduce the effects of climate change

In 2021, the global community called for increased climate ambition. Canada stepped up and announced a doubling of its international climate finance, from $2.65 billion (2015−2021) to $5.3 billion (2021−2026). To further strengthen its ability to help developing countries transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient, nature-positive, and inclusive sustainable development, Canada also announced that it will:

This new framework of climate finance was informed by a comprehensive set of consultations held with 530 people representing over 300 organizations across 20 countries. Based on the input from these consultations, Canada’s climate finance will target four thematic areas of focus:

In the lead-up to the COP26, Canada, alongside Germany, co-led the delivery plan for meeting an important collective goal. This goal is to mobilize at least US$100 billion per year through 2025 to support climate action in developing countries. Canada also joined 21 other countries in signing the . They will prioritize support for clean technology. They will also end new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel sector by the end of 2022, except in limited and clearly defined circumstances consistent with the 1.5 degree Celsius warming limit and the goals of the Paris Agreement. Canada will continue to work with its domestic and international partners to address climate change, while ensuring sustainable, resilient, and inclusive global economic development.

For more information on Canada’s engagement at COP26, please consult ECCC’s  page and the .

Canada’s 2021-2026 commitment to climate finance builds on its long-time support for climate action in developing countries.

Canada initially provided $1.2 billion in  (2010-2013) to help over 50 developing countries mitigate the causes and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. Funding targeted clean energy, adaptation support, forests and agriculture and other cross-cutting programming. This commitment supported the goal established at the 15th United Nations’ Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP15) in 2009. The goal was to jointly mobilize US$100 billion in climate finance annually by 2020, from both private and public sources. More specifically, Fast-Start Financing:

In 2015, on the margins of COP21, the Canadian government recommitted to global climate action through  to help developing countries tackle climate change. The programs and projects supported under this commitment are expected to reduce or prevent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by over 200 megatonnes. This is the equivalent of removing about 57 million cars from the roads for one year. They are also expected to help more than 6 million people adapt to the effects of climate change. Canada’s investments have also mobilized important climate finance contributions from the private sector as continued support for the joint goal to mobilize US$100 billion in climate finance annually. This commitment has supported the  and its accompanying , as well as .

Canada has proven to be a trusted partner that supports ambitious climate action. This includes reducing global GHG emissions and helping developing countries transition to low-carbon economies. It also helps the poorest and most vulnerable communities build resilience to the effects of climate change. Canada has shown that prioritizing climate action and gender equality efforts produces a ripple effect. It supports the most urgent Sustainable Development Goals and the commitments made in the Paris Agreement. Programming under Canada’s $5.3 billion commitment to climate finance will build on the successes from Canada’s extensive experience of past programming.

Please consult  page for results from Canada’s past programming.

Canada’s feminist approach to environment and climate action

puts gender equality and empowering women and girls at the heart of our international assistance efforts. This policy views women and girls as powerful agents of change to advance action on climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, pollution and other environmental concerns. This is reflected by the Action Area Policy: Environment and Climate Action. This policy recognizes that environment and climate action will be most effective when women and girls play an active role in designing and developing strategic responses to climate change and environmental issues.

Canada’s feminist approach to environment and climate action focuses on:

An objective of the $5.3 billion climate finance commitment is to Advance feminist climate action that supports the poorest and most vulnerable. Canada recognizes that marginalized and vulnerable people, including women, girls and others, are disproportionately affected by climate change and biodiversity loss. However, they have an essential role to play in mitigation and adaptation.

Through its climate finance programming, Canada will seek to apply a rights-based, gender-responsive and intersectional approach. This approach will leverage the experience and knowledge of all stakeholders, including marginalized and vulnerable groups. This includes, but is not limited to, Indigenous Peoples, local grassroots organizations, women’s rights organizations, and local communities. Canada will seek to amplify marginalized voices and promote opportunities for increased leadership and decision-making.

Nature-positive climate finance

Under the June 2021 G7 2030 Nature Compact, Canada joined other G7 countries in committing to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss in an integrated way. These countries committed to contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. They also committed to supporting a green, inclusive, and resilient recovery from the global COVID-19 pandemic.

All Canadian international assistance is reviewed through an environmental integration process. This process identifies risks and opportunities related to the environment, climate change, and the management of natural resources. Its purpose is to make sure that international assistance does not harm the environment or erode development gains. Canada’s $5.3 billion climate finance commitment will also apply a nature-positive screen to all project proposals. This will support programming that will deliver a positive contribution to environmental outcomes. These include climate, biodiversity, pollution control, and the circular economy. Canada will also aim to achieve biodiversity co-benefits across all of its climate finance program’s thematic areas.

See Canada’s Climate Finance Eligibility Criteria below for more information.

Partnerships to combat climate change in developing countries

Canada continues to collaborate with a range of bilateral and multilateral partners, including:

Canada has also established funds at multilateral development banks that are mobilizing private sector investment for climate change.

As part of Canada’s $5.3 billion climate finance commitment and its objective to leverage the climate action expertise and commitment of organizations in Canada, $315 million has been allocated for Partnering for Climate. This initiative will fund projects from civil society, Indigenous Peoples, and other organizations in Canada. It will support climate change adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world.

A total of $300 million will support projects that use nature-based solutions to help countries, communities, and people in Sub-Saharan Africa. This will help this particularly climate-vulnerable region become more resilient to the impacts of climate change. This funding includes at least $20 million to help advance women’s rights and climate change adaptation.

A further $15 million in funding will support Indigenous Peoples Partnering for Climate.

2021-2026 climate finance funding mechanisms

Canada’s international climate finance is delivered through a mix of funding mechanisms that respond to the unique needs of different development contexts. The $5.3 billion climate finance commitment consists of 40% grants and contributions, and 60% Unconditionally Repayable Contributions (URCs), an innovative finance instrument akin to .

URCs are contributions that must be repaid according to the specific repayment terms negotiated with the partner. They are used to incentivize much-needed private sector investments in low-carbon activities, primarily in middle-income and lower-middle-income countries. URCs have proven to be an effective means of aligning programming with the  and Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy. They have a measurable impact on reducing poverty reduction and advancing climate action.

Please consult A Canadian Approach to Innovative Financing for Sustainable Development for more information.

How to access funding

Eligibility criteria

All projects that receive support from Canada’s international climate finance program must demonstrate that they meet the following eligibility criteria:

  1. The project must demonstrate climate change (adaptation and/or mitigation) as the project’s principal objective (CC2 policy marker coding).
  2. The project must respect Official Development Assistance (ODA) country eligibility.
  3. The project must integrate gender equality considerations.
  4. In order to promote alignment with both Canadian values and developing country needs, the project must demonstrate that it contributes to a minimum of 2 of 5 climate finance policy objectives.
  5. The project results must align with the Climate Finance Program Results Framework.
  6. If requesting URC funding, projects should demonstrate alignment with the OECD DAC blended finance principles.

1. The project must demonstrate climate change (adaptation and/or mitigation) as the project’s principal objective (CC2 policy marker coding).

Note: Canada has committed at least 20% of its funding to support nature-based climate solutions and projects that contribute biodiversity co-benefits. In addition to meeting the CC2 policy marker requirement, projects contributing to this target will also achieve a biodiversity significant policy marker coding (minimum BD1), as per the Rio Convention policy markers.

Climate change adaptation coding requirements

Definition: Adaptation projects intend to reduce climate change vulnerability. Climate vulnerability is generally related to three primary variables:

Eligibility criteria

For more information on the eligibility criteria, please refer to the  and GAC’s Project Coding – Policy Markers.

Note: It is possible to have projects that can have a principal objective that meets the eligibility criteria for both climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Climate change mitigation coding requirements

Definition: Mitigation projects intend to reduce or avoid the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere. They also include initiatives that intend to remove GHGs from the atmosphere.

Eligibility criteria

For more information on the eligibility criteria, please refer to the  and GAC’s Project Coding – Policy Markers.

Note: It is possible to have a cross-cutting project. This means a project can have a principal objective that meets the eligibility criteria for both climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Biodiversity coding requirements

Definition: Biodiversity projects promote at least one of the three objectives of the :

Eligibility criteria

For a project to be eligible for the 20% of funding allocated to projects that leverage nature-based climate solutions and projects that contribute biodiversity co-benefits, the project must meet the following eligibility criteria:

Ranking criteria

For more information on the eligibility criteria, please refer to the  and GAC’s Project Coding – Policy Markers.

Note: All biodiversity projects must also have climate change as a principal objective (CC2).

2. The project must respect Official Development Assistance (ODA) country eligibility.

The project respects the Official Development Assistance eligibility criteria, as well as the .

Official Development Assistance Eligibility Criteria:

  1. Support country(ies) on the OECD’s 
  2. Contribute to poverty reduction
  3. Be consistent with international human rights standards.

With limited exceptions, the project adheres to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) country eligibility requirements. This ensures that the project can be reported as climate finance to the UNFCCC. For more information, please visit  page.

3. The project must integrate gender equality considerations.

Gender equality coding requirements

Per and the Government’s commitment to making sure that 80% of all climate finance programming is gender integrated, projects under the $5.3 billion climate finance commitment must get at least a GE-1 code (that is, partially integrated). This means that there is at least one gender equality result at the immediate outcome level in the logic model and that this result will achieve a measurable change in skills, awareness, or knowledge that will contribute to gender equality. These outcomes must be reflected in the project’s theory of change and Performance Measurement Framework. However, to better reflect Canada’s commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, preference may be given to projects that go beyond a GE-1 code and strive for a GE-2 code. GE-2 coded projects must have outcomes that show observable changes in behaviour, practice, access or performance at the intermediate outcome level. These results will contribute to stronger gender equality outcomes and deeper gender equality integration. It is important to remember that for a project to be coded GE-2 at least one intermediate outcome must be a gender equality outcome. Additionally, all of these results need to be reflected in the associated result chains, theory of change and the Performance Measurement Framework.

Please refer to Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Gender Equality Toolkit for Projects for more information.

4. To promote alignment with both Canadian values and developing country needs, the project must demonstrate that it contributes to at least 2 of 5 climate finance policy objectives.

Policy objectives

* Canada maintains its commitment to fully untied aid

5. The project results must align with the Climate Finance Program Results Framework.

The project’s ultimate outcome must align with the climate finance program’s ultimate outcome: “Improved low-carbon, climate resilient economies in developing countries”, and with at least one of the four thematic areas of focus listed below. The project must include intermediate outcomes that contribute to the respective program-level intermediate outcomes according to climate finance program’s Logic Model.

  1. Clean Energy Transition and Coal Phase-Out - Canada will support developing countries’ transition to clean energy. It will do so by phasing out coal-powered emissions and promoting equitable access to reliable and cost-effective clean energy solutions and energy efficient technologies. 

Note: This priority complements Canada’s leadership through the 

  1. Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems - Canada will work with developing countries to support smallholder farmers and food value-chain actors, especially women. It will help them to better adapt to climate change. It will also help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through improved access to and adoption of climate-smart agriculture and food system practices and agricultural nature-based climate solutions.
  2. Nature-Based Solutions and Biodiversity - Canada will support actions that protect, sustainably manage and/or restore natural or modified ecosystems to address climate change, while also generating biodiversity co-benefits.
  3. Climate Governance - Canada will support projects that strengthen the enabling environments for effective climate governance at the global, national and subnational levels. This will foster greener, more sustainable and equitable communities.

To make sure there is alignment between project performance measurement frameworks and the climate finance program’s results framework, please refer to GAC’s Results-based Management page (refer also to the pages linked on the website).

Note: To meet the multiple policy marker coding requirements, and in the context of the climate finance program only, intermediate outcomes that express more than one change are accepted as long as each change expressed in the outcome has an associated indicator and there are appropriate references to those changes in immediate outcomes/indicators, as well as in the project documentation and budget lines

6. If requesting URC funding, projects should demonstrate alignment with the OECD DAC blended finance principles.

The $5.3 billion climate finance program will make its URC funding decisions in line with  and Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy, as well as the . The program will use URCs as an innovative finance tool for initiatives that prioritize and demonstrate the following:

To be considered eligible for funding under the climate finance program, all eligibility criteria must be met.

How to submit a proposal

For information on how to submit a proposal, please visit Apply for funding through an unsolicited proposal.

When submitting your proposal through the portal, please make sure:

¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ will consider project proposals on a rolling basis. Decisions about project funding will be made in accordance with departmental processes, and will be subject to funding availability.

Annex 1: Canada’s $5.3 billion International Climate Finance Program Logic Model

Related links

Mandatory annex for concept notes

When submitting your proposal through the portal, please make sure it includes the information required in a standard concept note (see Guidance for Concept Notes). Please also make sure the annex is no more than 1,000 words and explains how your proposal meets the Eligibility Criteria.

You will need to explain how the project:

Report a problem on this page
Please select all that apply:

Thank you for your help!

You will not receive a reply. For enquiries, please .

Date modified: