Raising ambition for enhanced accountability and transparency of climate finance

By SouthSouthNorth

July 31^st, 2025

Green Accountability Platform Community of Practice Workshop, Bonn Germany

Recent geopolitical tensions, coupled with cascading effects of climate change, call for the need to urgently scale affordable and accessible climate finance that can effectively reach the local level. At COP29, the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) was adopted, but was met with much disappointment from Global South countries as it failed to meet the quantity of finance necessary to meet the 1.5°C goal. In addition, countries are calling for more inclusive climate finance processes that put civil society at the forefront of climate finance decisions and that they have access to platforms and mechanisms that enable them to effectively advocate for their climate finance needs.

On 21 and 22 June 2025, SouthSouthNorth (SSN), the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Huairou Commission, with funding from the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) (the predecessor to the Civil Society and Social Innovation Alliance (CIVIC)), convened a two-day workshop in Bonn, Germany for the Green Accountability Platform Community of Practice.

The Platform provides strategic finance to 25 civil society organisations (CSOs) across Bangladesh, Mexico, Brazil, Senegal and Cameroon to make climate finance governance for mitigation and adaptation more transparent, participatory and accountable within their local contexts. The workshop brought together several of these implementing partners to investigate different accountability mechanisms for enhanced climate action, as well as to reflect on progress thus far, challenges and opportunities for increased transparency and accountability of climate finance in varying political and sectoral contexts.

Raising ambition for enhanced accountability and transparency of climate finance

The Green Accountability Community of Practice provides a space for peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing to identify scalable green accountability innovations and implement coalition-building strategies. It is a space for green accountability leaders and practitioners to build their networks. The CoP hosts three thematic affinity groups:

(1) enabling greater transparency through data/ information mechanisms and processes for civil society;

(2) enhancing advocacy and engagement channels for inclusive policy processes; and

(3) bolstering accountability through increased awareness raising and enhanced capacities related to climate finance.

Dr. Dr. Zoneziwoh Mbondgulo-Wondieh, Women for a Change, Cameroon

This event took place on the sidelines of the SB62 June Climate meetings in Bonn, where several of the negotiations focused on enhancing the accountability and transparency processes under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Among these included discussions on: 1) The Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) indicators under the UAE–Belém Work Programme, 2) responsibilities, timelines, and the quality of finance under the Baku to Belém Finance Roadmap, and 3) the UAE Dialogue on implementing the Global Stocktake outcomes. The Green Accountability Platform also convened a side-event at the negotiations, which focused specifically on 'Lessons from civil society on enhancing transparency and accountability in climate finance'.

Key speakers at the UNFCCC SB62 Green Accountability side event. From left: Jesse Worker (WRI), Hannah Sack (SSN), Dr. Zoneziwoh Mbondgulo-Wondieh, Sandra Guzman (GFLAC) and Sheilla Dourado (INESC).

Applying a Political Economy Analysis to Green Accountability Challenges

Climate-vulnerable countries often struggle with limited institutional capacity – but with the right support, local and national actors can become effective advocates of community-informed perspectives for national climate action.

During the workshop, participants undertook a Political Economy Analysis exercise to better understand what motivates or constrains necessary action that would lead to better climate or social equity outcomes and to identify politically plausible pathways to change that the Green Accountability Platform could help to unlock. Several challenges and pathways to change were identified across countries and regions relating to (among others): access to information, limited CSO and community participation in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) processes, and a lack of political will for policy implementation.

Collectively, it was agreed that strategic transformation, technical innovation, and institutional leadership of CSOs can strengthen the enabling environment for implementing NDCs and other climate policies effectively and for delivering finance

Identifying emerging signs of change as a result of the Green Accountability projects

Organisations are improving their ability to track, analyse, and report on climate finance and policy implementation. This builds transparency and accountability into systems that are often opaque, helping prevent inefficiency or misallocation of climate-related funds.

Participants undertook a Ripple Effects Mapping (REM) exercise to identify emerging signs of change (whether these have already occurred or are perceived to occur in the future) as a result of the Green Accountability projects. The exercise confirmed that there are signs of climate-related governance processes becoming more transparent and participatory, for example:

In Mexico, community engagement in budget processes through telling real-life stories can lead to empowerment and equity in budget decisions.
In Cameroon, improved trust and increased climate momentum are being built by grassroots women’s and youth groups through their use of digital tools and media. This is influencing national climate action, such as the NDC.
In Brazil and Senegal, government-CSO collaboration through joint working groups, new laws and awareness campaigns are shaping governance. This collaboration enhances the legitimacy and impact of climate finance decisions

Climate finance accountability and the Road to Belém

Partners from Mexico and Brazil presented on the Brazil COP30 presidency’s philosophical approach, priorities and modalities for engaging in the UNFCCC and other international processes. They also covered how the ambiguity and unsettled questions of the Baku NCQG persist today, emphasising the need for enhanced accountability mechanisms that scale across national and international processes. Partners emphasised the need to ensure the quality of finance in addition to ensuring sufficient quantity is available to support NDC implementation under a 1.5°C scenario. Specifically, partners emphasised that the Baku to Belém Finance Roadmap must ensure attention is given to funding for adaptation, loss and damage and the Just Transition, while also ensuring that finance provision does not increase the debt of developing countries - calling for the need to provide more concessional and grant funding as opposed to market-value loans. Lastly, it was emphasised that this finance should be accessible to local actors (communities, cities, sub-national governments, etc.) to ensure it is truly transformative.

Group photo of workshop participants at the in-person Community of Practice Meeting in Bonn, Germany

Looking ahead: Partnership building for sustained impact

The two-day workshop provided a valuable and strategic partnership-building opportunity for the Green Accountability Platform. The workshop highlighted the collective efforts of Green Accountability partners, specifically at the national level, to advocate collectively for enhanced climate action. For example, in Bangladesh, partners are collectively working on a position paper to inform the NDC revision.

With the Green Accountability Platform officially coming to an end in December 2025, it is important that these relationships are bolstered and supported to continue effectively advocating for fair and inclusive climate finance allocation- both within national and international policy processes.

For more information, please visit https://www.greenaccountabilitynow.org/ or send an email to Hannah Sack, Community of Practice Manager, at hannah@southsouthnorth.org