Breaking the Cycle: Practical solutions to unlock climate finance for fragile states

Many fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) are highly vulnerable to climate change. 18 FCS rank among the top 25 countries globally for highest vulnerability and least coping capacity towards climate change (ND-GAIN 2022). Alarmingly, despite this high vulnerability, the more fragile a country is, the less climate finance it has historically received from bilateral funders and multilateral climate funds. The challenges to accessing and utilising climate adaptation finance in FCS across climate funders and recipient countries have been well documented in the literature. These can be mapped onto a life-cycle framework, from the strategies driving climate funders’ low risk appetite and tolerance in working in FCS, to the stringent requirements for funding access, project approval and partnerships that limit planning and development of the programme, the inflexible operational protocols that hinder adaptive implementation and delivery, and the data and travel restrictions that make it difficult to monitor project progress and measure outcomes. Whilst our understanding of the difficulties in delivering climate finance in fragile and conflict-affected situations has increased in the past few years, the question remains: what can be done to overcome them? This report showcases innovative solutions that climate funders could seek to adopt to improve their reach and impact in FCS.