Climate and development organisations are calling on the Australian Government to arrive at this year's Pacific Islands Forum with a bold new climate finance commitment, in step with Pacific leaders' urgent calls for action.
At COP29, governments agreed to triple international climate finance to US$300 billion annually by 2035. But right now, Australia is contributing less than one percent of global climate finance - well short of its fair share of 4.8 percent.
Australia's fair share of the new global goal is AUD$14 billion per year by 2035, and should be delivered as public, grant based finance that is new and additional to existing aid obligations. To meet this commitment, Australia must establish a new climate finance goal of at least $11 billion for 2025 - 2030, replacing its current target and aligning it with a strategic pathway to reach its 2035 fair share.
Pacific nations are already grappling with escalating climate disasters, rising seas and devastating loss of homes, livelihoods and cultural heritage. Meanwhile, in 2023-24, Australian governments handed out $14.5 billion in fossil fuel subsidies to industries that are driving the climate crisis - the same amount as Australia's entire new annual fair share of climate finance.
As most governments prepare to release their 2035 Nationally Determined Contributions at the UN general assembly this month, climate finance will be critical in driving the urgent ambition that is needed to avert the worst climate impacts. Low-income countries cannot be expected to cover the costs of the just energy transition themselves – rich, high emitting countries must pay up the climate finance they owe.
Oxfam Australia Acting Chief Executive Dr Chrisanta Muli said:
"If Australia is to co-host COP31 alongside our Pacific neighbours, it carries both an opportunity and an obligation to lead. Real leadership means ramping up climate finance now, so frontline nations have the resources to adapt, recover, and shift away from fossil fuels."
Mudasser Siddiqui, Deputy CEO, Impact, Plan International Australia said:
"Only 2.4 percent of money spent by major global climate funds addresses the needs of children-a tiny fraction for a crisis this big. If girls on the frontlines are to survive and thrive, ambition must be matched with finance."
Michelle Higelin, Executive Director, ActionAid Australia said:
"As the world moves dangerously close to 1.5 degrees of warming, the economic and human costs of the climate crisis are skyrocketing. Women across the Pacific are already battling the daily realities of the climate crisis, and they are paying for a problem they did not cause. It's only fair that big polluting countries like Australia pay their share of climate finance to communities dealing with more frequent and intense climate disasters."
Clement Manuri, Country Program Manager, Plan International Solomon Islands said:
"Our communities tell us that very little climate funding reaches them. As leaders meet in Honiara for the PIFS Leaders Meeting, we urge them to prioritise making climate finance accessible to Pacific girls and their communities, as we face some of the world's highest adaptation needs."
Australia must demonstrate climate leadership by:
- Tripling climate finance to $11 billion (2025-2030) - new and additional to the aid budget, delivered mainly as public, grant-based finance.
- Boosting climate-focused aid to 30% of total climate finance by 2030, including three new NGO funding windows: Pacific Adaptation, Just Transitions in Asia, and a Global Gender-Responsive Fund.
- Scaling up support for vulnerable communities - prioritising adaptation and providing $300m for loss and damage, including $100m to the Pacific Resilience Facility.
- Setting a clear pathway to Australia's fair share ($14b annually by 2035) - funded by ending fossil fuel subsidies and introducing a climate pollution levy on coal, oil and gas.
- Ensuring transparency and accountability in climate finance, especially through multilateral banks and blended finance tools.
