Formal deliberations for the new collective quantified goal on climate finance began at COP26 in Glasgow. This Perspectives article aims to inform this process by discussing the potential size and nature of is post-2025 target. We argue that the climate finance system around the current target to mobilise US$100 billion per year to support developing countries has been fraught with difficulties, and that it would be ineffective to simply increase the climate finance target without addressing these difficulties. Therefore, we identify and discuss five priority elements for negotiations: the relation to Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement; the adaptation-mitigation balance; financial instruments; mobilising private finance; and ‘new and additional’ finance. To increase transparency, accountability, and trust in climate finance under the UNFCCC and to simultaneously allow for the mobilisation of finance at scale, we suggest setting a sub-target for grants. In combination with additional (sub)target(s), this could define an overall new collective quantified goal that is better suited to serve the challenging dual role of mobilising finance at scale and transferring resources to developing countries. Key policy insights

Country ownership echoes from the aid effectiveness agenda in climate finance, becoming a means to ensure that (1) projects are aligned with national climate policies and strategies, (2) national systems are used to increase recipients’ accountability in the use of resources, and (3) national public and private stakeholders are engaged in the process. The concept is a key objective of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), considered in light of the GCF’s goal of promoting the paradigm shift towards low emission and climate-resilient development. In the interplay between international commitments and the progress of its in-country activities, the GCF relies on the agency of National Designated Authorities (NDAs). Based on documental sources, GCF data, and a survey, this article first analyzes whether the GCF’s institutional design creates appropriate responsibilities so NDAs can effectively enhance country ownership. As a second level of effectiveness, the article analyzes whether such an institutional design is currently capable of promoting the desired paradigm shift. In the context of the GCF being a young fund, we found that NDAs have the potential to enhance country ownership, but need more tailored capacity building to ensure that in-country activities are effectively equipped to deliver the paradigm shift.

French Devant l'objectif d'une économie mondiale neutre en carbone en 2050, le système financier doit être mobilisé dans toute sa capacité afin de financer une véritable révolution socioéconomique et industrielle. C'est dans ce contexte que de nombreuses initiatives réglementaires sont apparues pour rendre la finance « durable ». Nous proposons une grille de lecture exploratoire pouvant constituer une typologie d'analyse de ces différentes approches, testée au travers des récents cadres européen et chinois. Sur la base de cet exercice, nous tirons de premières conclusions sur la cohérence de ces cadres vis-à-vis des contraintes et impératifs de mutations techno-industrielles et socioéconomiques imposés par la science climatique. English Faced with the goal of a carbon-neutral global economy in 2050, the financial system must be mobilized to its full capacity in order to finance what is a genuine socioeconomic and industrial revolution. It is in this context that many regulatory initiatives have emerged to make finance "sustainable". We propose an exploratory reading grid that can constitute a typology of analysis of these different approaches, that we test through the recent European and Chinese sustainable/green finance frameworks. On the basis of this exercise, we draw initial conclusions on the consistency of these frameworks vis-à-vis the constraints and imperatives of techno-industrial and socioeconomic changes imposed by climate science.