Australia works closely with international partners to address the impacts of climate change and supports full, equal, and diverse participation and leadership in international climate processes. We continue to recognise the unique contributions of Indigenous Peoples, women and girls, persons with disabilities, and youth in climate change action.

Australia continues to work with Pacific island Countries in bidding to host COP31 in 2026 to accelerate global climate action and to bring profile to the climate impacts in our region.

We work with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to negotiate and meet Australia’s obligations under the Paris Agreement.

Contents

• The Paris Agreement
• Nationally Determined Contributions
• Climate finance
• Blended finance
• Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP)
• Action on the ocean
• Our Programs in Action
• Global Environment Facility (GEF)
• Green Climate Fund (GCF)

The Paris Agreement

Australia is party to the Paris Agreement which came into force in 2016.

The Paris Agreement aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by:

• holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels
• pursuing efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5°C.

Other international treaties are the:

• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• Kyoto Protocol

Nationally Determined Contributions

Under the Paris Agreement, Australia must submit emissions reduction commitments known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Australia submitted its first NDC to the UNFCCC in 2015. We submitted an updated version in 2022, which commits Australia to reducing its emissions to 43% below 2005 levels by 2030.

Australia will submit its second NDC to the UNFCCC in 2025.

• See Australia's NDC on the UNFCCC registry.
• Read about Australia's domestic actions for climate change.

Climate finance

Australia's climate finance is focused on the Pacific and Southeast Asia. It is delivered through bilateral and regional programs, blended finance instruments, and contributions to multilateral development banks' climate programming and multilateral climate funds like the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund.

Australia is investing in climate and clean energy infrastructure to support partners in our region to build climate resilience and transition to net zero. Key initiatives include:

• at least $350 million in climate resilient infrastructure through the Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership
• $75 million equity investment in Singapore's Financing Asia's Transition partnership to support the clean energy transition
• $200 million for the Australia-Indonesia Climate and Infrastructure Partnership
• USD200 million guarantee for the Asian Development Bank's Innovative Financing Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific
• $208.5 million for the Climate Resilient Communities Facility
• $50 million for the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage
• $100 million in foundational funding for the Pacific Resilience Facility
• $80 million for the Global Environment Facility
• $50 million for the Green Climate Fund.

Blended finance

Australia's portfolio of blended finance mechanisms is mobilising private finance to boost climate action in the Indo-Pacific. Blended finance is the use of catalytic capital from public or philanthropic sources to increase private sector investment in sustainable development. Key blended finance initiatives include:

• Australian Development Investments (ADI), a $250 million fund of funds that invests in small and medium enterprises delivering climate and gender equality outcomes. ADI includes a Climate Catalyst Window, a $126 million initiative to de-risk climate solutions in Southeast and South Asia, and the Pacific.
• Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), supporting a multilateral project developer and investor in infrastructure, for climate action and sustainable development.
• Australian Climate Finance Partnership (ACFP), a concessional finance facility supporting high-impact climate projects in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. ACFP is managed by the Asian Development Bank and funded by the Australian Government.
• Business Partnerships Platform, supporting partnerships with sustainable businesses, NGOs and academic institutions to collaborate on issues such as investing in off-grid renewable energy in the Pacific and accelerating women-led adaptation enterprises.
• Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership, delivering climate-related infrastructure, including REnew Pacific, a $75 million program to deliver small scale, off-grid energy infrastructure in remote communities.

Clean Energy Transition Partnership

On 5 December 2023 at COP28, the Australian Government joined the Statement on International Public Support for the Clean Energy Transition (known as the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP), as announced in a joint media release by Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Hon Chris Bowen MP, and then Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Senator the Hon Jenny McAllister.

This commitment will end direct support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector, except in limited and clearly defined circumstances.

The Australian Government published Implementation Guidelines in December 2024 to assist departments and agencies comply with our CETP commitments.

Action on the ocean

Australia's international engagement on oceans is led by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water.

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

In September 2023 Australia signed the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (‘BBNJ') under UNCLOS.

Australia is co-facilitating with Cabo Verde the political declaration for the third United Nations Ocean Conference in 2025, co-chairing with Belize the Preparatory Commission for the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty, and championing the development of sustainable ocean plans and the International Blue Carbon Partnership.

Our Programs in Action

We are committed to working with the Pacific to use the rules-based system to drive the changes we want to see in our region. The Australian Government is engaged in international efforts on Oceans to support our Pacific partners and protect our vast marine environment. Some examples include:

• joining the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy
• developing a Sustainable Ocean Plan to protect 30 per cent of the world's coastal and marine areas by 2030
• creating Australia's Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund to support blue carbon restoration and conservation project developments in countries outside Australia and to catalyse for private sector investment
• partnering with regional neighbours on coastal blue carbon protection and restoration by
  • funding Indian Ocean Rim Association Blue Carbon Hub programs ($1 million)
  • supporting the Pacific Blue Carbon Program ($6.3 million)
• Being a founding member of the International Coral Reef Initiative, which supports the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and is the Commonwealth Blue Charter Champion for Coral Reef Protection and Restoration Action Group
• supporting the ReefCloud open-access platform in the Pacific and beyond, which uses innovative technology and Artificial Intelligence to support coral reef management.

Global Environment Facility

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) supports vulnerable countries to address a range of environmental challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, and is one of four key vertical climate funds. The GEF and the newly established Global Biodiversity Framework Fund finance country-driven initiatives that generate global environmental benefits and support countries to meet their international obligations. The GEF supports the following international conventions and agreements:

• Convention on Biological Diversity
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Minamata Convention on Mercury
• Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
• Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement.

Australia is a member of the GEF Council and has committed $80 million to the GEF-8 replenishment (2022-26).

Green Climate Fund

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) supports developing countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and enhance their ability to adapt to climate change.

Australia re-engaged with the GCF in 2023 with a $50 million contribution to the current GCF-2 replenishment.