Kept Promises? The Evolution of the EU Financial Contribution to Climate Change

The chapter provides an overview of the public climate finance implemented under the UNFCCC by the EU as a whole and its Member States—in the chapter called EUplus—later taken over by SDG 13.a, for the period 2011–2018 (the latest year available). Through the analysis of the UNFCCC Biennial Reports, it is possible not only to highlight the amount allocated to the challenge against climate change, but also to break it down into its two meanings: mitigation and adaptation, as well as to identify the type of channel through which this support has been implemented. In this context, particular attention will be given to the two contribution channels: bilateral and multilateral, highlighting the type of support in different cases. The chapter shows an increase in contributions, especially since 2015, and how support has been increasingly shifted toward adaptation. This could mean that there is an awareness in a delay in achieving the stabilization of GHG emissions in the atmosphere.