Climate Policy and Public Finance

This tutorial aims to build an understanding of the links between climate policy and public finance. It has been developed by the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) as part of the regional project “Strengthening the Governance of Climate Change Finance to Benefit the Poor and Vulnerable in Asia and the Pacific” implemented by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) with financial support from the Swedish Development Cooperation (SIDA).

The tutorial has five sections:

1. What is climate change?
2. What is happening in Asia and the Pacific?
3. How does climate change affect your job as a government official?
4. National and international finance for climate change.
5. A strategic framework for managing climate finance.

Section 1 introduces the climate system changes observed since the end of the 19th century and predicted in the future, including topics such as temperature rise, changing rainfall patterns, ocean acidification.

Section 2 presents the specific conditions and climate change impacts on the Asia-Pacific region. The section also introduces the concepts of climate mitigation and adaptation and gives examples from the Asia-Pacific.

Section 3 illustrates how climate change mitigation and adaptation relate to public officials’ work, including sectors such as transport, energy, planning, and finance.

Section 4 presents the size, sources, and complexity of climate finance flows and discusses the roles of international, national, public, and private actors.

Section 5 provides an overview of the public financial management system of a country, with a focus on the national budget process. This section also illustrates how national planning and budget systems can provide a basis for better management of climate finance.