Climate change
Australia supports climate change action through its development assistance program, guided by the International Development Policy. The policy acknowledges climate change as the greatest shared threat to all countries and has climate action at its heart. It commits Australia to strengthening climate resilience across the development program by
- considering climate risk in our development partnership plans,
- aligning our bilateral programs with partners' Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans, and
- ensuring that from 2024-25, at least half of all new country and regional investments, valued over $3 million, will have a climate change objective - rising to 80 per cent in 2028–29.
Guidance on climate integration
Australia takes a twin track approach to integrating climate in the development program including by:
• increasing the number of climate-related investments
• mainstreaming climate considerations in investments across all sectors.
Support to our region includes:
Putting more resources behind our climate work
The Australian Government is deeply committed to taking real and significant climate action at home and establishing Australia as a climate leader internationally.
- Australia has strengthened its previous $2 billion climate finance commitment and expects to deliver $3 billion towards the global goal, over 2020-25, largely through existing official development assistance commitments. See further information on counting Australia’s climate finance and delivering on our climate finance commitment.
- The Government has also committed to increasing official development assistance to the Indo-Pacific by $1.7 billion in new spending over five years and to long-term growth of the development program.
- Australia will also step up its work with the private sector and explore new forms of development finance to achieve impact at scale in the Indo-Pacific region, and to support the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Key climate change initiatives
| Initiatives | Description |
|---|---|
| Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) | AIFFP is partnering with governments and the private sector in the Pacific and Timor-Leste to provide grant and loan financing for high quality, transformational energy, water, transport, telecommunications and other infrastructure. |
| Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac) | COSPPac enhancing the capacity of Pacific islands to manage and mitigate the impacts of climate variability and tidal events. The team is working with stakeholders to forecast and report on climate, tides and the ocean. |
| Australian Climate Finance Partnership (ACFP) | ACFP is a concessional finance facility supporting climate action in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. It is managed by the Asian Development Bank and funded by the Australian Government. |
| Climate Resilient by Nature | Australia’s new Climate Resilient by Nature program works with local communities to conserve and rehabilitate ecosystems to address climate change in the Pacific. |
| Climate Resilient Communities (CRC) | CRC is a $208.5 million facility designed to help meet the Australian Government’s climate change commitments under the international development policy by increasing climate investments, driving climate integration and better addressing climate change and disaster risks across Australia’s development program. |