The Conference of Parties (COP 26) is only a few days away. As parties prepare for the biggest congregation in climate change negotiations, many in developing countries are wondering if the developed countries will pay for the damage they have caused due to climate change.

Under the Paris Agreement, developed countries promised to pay $100 billion annually to the developing countries for adaptation and mitigation. This decision was made in the year 2015. By the year 2020 developed countries were supposed to have come up with a plan.

What would be the mechanism through which they would pay and how will they determine how much would be paid to which country? These questions are still to be answered.

Climate finance refers to local, national, or transnational financing to support mitigation and adaptation actions to address climate change issues.

Under the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, the developed countries have the responsibility to mobilise the financial resources and make them available to those that are less endowed and more vulnerable. Contributions of various countries to climate change finance and their capacity to prevent it and cope with its consequences vary widely.

Climate finance is needed for mitigation because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions. Climate finance is equally important for adaptation as significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines adaptation as the process of adjustment of human and natural systems to actual and expected adverse effects of climate change, differentiating between incremental and transformational adaptation. Efforts to reduce emissions and enhance sinks are referred to as mitigation.

In accordance with the principle of “common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities” set out in the convention, the developed country parties are to provide financial resources to assist the developing country parties in implementing the objectives of the UNFCCC.

The Paris Agreement reaffirms the obligations of developed countries. For the first time it also encouraging voluntary contributions by other parties.

It says the developed country parties should also continue to take the lead in mobilising climate finance from a wide variety of sources, instruments, and channels, noting the significant role of public funds, through a variety of actions, including supporting country-driven strategies, and considering the needs and priorities of developing country parties. Such mobilisation of climate finance, it says, should represent a progression beyond previous efforts.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) claims that $78.9 billion of climate finance was mobilised between 2013-2018 for mitigation and adaptation. According to its report titled, Climate Finance Provided and Financed by Developed Countries in 2013-2018, the largest share of total climate finance provided and mobilised over 2016-18 was for energy (34 percent), followed by transport and storage (14 percent), agriculture, forestry and fishing (9 percent) and water and sanitation (7 percent).

Mitigation finance dominated the energy and transport sectors. The share of adaptation finance was most prominent in the water and sanitation and agriculture sectors.

The report claims that between years 2016-18, Asia benefitted from the largest share (43 percent) of total climate finance provided and mobilised by developed countries, followed by Africa (25 percent), the Americas (17 percent), non-EU/EEA Europe (4 percent) and Oceania (1 percent).

Large and highly populated middle-income developing countries were the primary beneficiaries of climate finance. The methodology and data sources do not properly address the mechanism of funding. Most of the funding documented in the report was in the form of small grants and projects that shouldn’t count as climate finance.

Eighty percent of the top 20 countries have now made pledges beyond 2020 for climate finance, according to a report released by COP 26. These include: the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Monaco, Japan, Ireland, Germany, France, Finland, European Commission, Denmark, Canada, Belgium and Australia.

These pledges have been made for the years 2021-2025. This means that the developing countries have to wait for investment in adaptation and mitigation.

Australia is committing AUD 1.5 billion over 2020-2025, Belgium EUR 455 million in 2021-2024, Canada CAD 5.3 billion over five years, Denmark USD 500 million annually from the year 2023, European Commission EUR 4 billion top-up from 2021-2027, Finland EUR 900 million from 2020-2025, France EUR 6 billion between 2021-2025, Germany EUR 6 billion per year by 2025 and Japan JPY 6.5 trillion between 2021-2025.

Monaco has pledged to increase the international climate finance budget by EUR 100,000) biennially over the 2020-2030 period. Ireland will be sharing its details in the early 2022. In 2022, the Netherlands expects to increase climate finance to EUR 660 million in public climate finance and mobilise EUR 640 million in private climate finance.

New Zealand has pledged NZD 1.3 billion over four years, i.e., 2022–2025. At least 50 percent of the commitment will support the Pacific Island countries and at least 50 percent will target adaptation. In 2022, Norway expects to increase its public climate finance to approximately USD 960 million.

Sweden intends to double its annual public climate finance to developing countries by 2025 to SEK 15 billion. The UK has committed to doubling its international climate finance budget to GBP 11.6 billion over 2021-25, including a balance between mitigation and adaptation spending.

The United States intends to double by 2024 its annual public climate finance to developing countries to around USD 11.4 billion, including around USD 3 billion to support adaptation efforts.

Twenty percent of the developed countries are still not making their pledges. What will be the mechanism and how the funds will be transferred? How much of the money will each developing country get? Will the developed countries actually transfer this money?

What will be the accountability mechanism? This time it is a matter of credibility for developed countries to fulfill their promises when it comes to climate finance. They need to convert their pledges and commitments into action to limit the temperature to 1.5 degree.

Maryam Shabbir is environmental expert at Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). She tweets @S_Maryam8