What we heard: Canada’s next international climate and nature finance commitment for developing countries

On this page

• Introduction
• Summary
• How we reached out and how you responded
• What we heard
  • Scale up finance for climate and nature action with a focus on vulnerability
  • Focus on effectiveness
  • Engage the private sector on climate and nature action
  • Strengthen a feminist, inclusive and youth-driven approach
  • Keep Canadians engaged and leverage expertise of civil society organizations (CSOs)
  • Deepen partnerships with Indigenous Peoples and organizations
• Moving forward
• Public consultation questions

Introduction

In 2021, Canada announced a commitment to provide $5.3 billion in international climate finance to developing countries through to 2026. This followed a $2.65 billion commitment from 2015 to 2021, and a $1.2 billion “Fast-Start” commitment from 2010 to 2013. Under the $5.3 billion commitment, Canada has continued to help developing countries transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient, nature-positive and inclusive sustainable development. Canada’s international climate finance to developing countries goes much further than core public commitments, leveraging a variety of sources of finance. In addition, Canada is also providing $350 million in international biodiversity finance from 2023 to 2026 to support developing countries to address the five drivers of biodiversity loss.

With the current commitment period for both climate finance (2021-26) and the biodiversity program (2023-26) nearing their scheduled end, the Government of Canada is in the process of developing its next commitment. To inform this process, it conducted extensive public and targeted consultations between April and June 2024. Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) hosted a series of meetings, consultations, and roundtable discussions with domestic and international civil society organizations, Indigenous organizations, provinces and territories, youth representatives, and private sector representatives to gather input to help shape the future of Canada’s international climate and nature finance for developing countries. We also launched a public web-based consultation to gain insights from the Canadian and international public.

This report summarizes what the Government of Canada heard through the consultations and engagements. We found that there is a wide variety of views on what Canada should prioritize as part of its next commitment. Inputs reflected respondents’ own views as well as the views of the organizations or sectors they represented (civil society, Indigenous, private sector, youth, etc.). The findings outlined below highlight the various viewpoints and capture the breadth of these inputs under six general themes:

• Scale up Finance for Climate and Nature Action with a Focus on Vulnerability
• Focus on Effectiveness
• Engage the Private Sector on Climate and Nature Action
• Strengthen a Feminist, Inclusive and Youth-driven Approach
• Keep Canadians Engaged and Leverage Expertise of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
• Deepen partnerships with Indigenous Peoples and Organizations

While there are several areas of strong convergence in the inputs received through the consultation process, differing views and competing priorities in other areas entail important choices and trade-offs with respect to the design and delivery of Canada’s next climate and nature finance commitment.

Summary

This section provides a summary of the input received. Consultation and engagement participants provided input on priority investment areas, programming elements, partnerships and delivery mechanisms. They shared their views on how Canada could make the biggest impact and on the principles that should define Canada’s future climate and nature finance commitment.

We heard the following key messages as considerations for the Government of Canada:

• Scale up Finance for Climate and Nature Action with a Focus on Vulnerability: We heard that Canada should increase its support for climate and nature action across the board including for mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage. Canadian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) called for tripling climate finance to $15.9 billion and providing 60% of this as grants. Responses in the public consultation generally called for increasing grants and reducing the amount of loans, recognizing the debt crisis in developing countries. CSOs, as well as youth organizations and public consultation respondents, said that Canada should allocate 60% of its funds towards adaptation and 40% for mitigation, and that Canada should include loss and damage in its framework and fund this through grants, without compromising funding for climate change adaptation. There was broad consensus that Canada should prioritize reaching the most in need, such as Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Sub-Saharan Africa, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), those in conflict-affected areas, and vulnerable communities, including Indigenous Peoples.
• Focus on Effectiveness: Civil society, Indigenous organizations, and public respondents said that Canada’s climate finance should be predictable and long-term to allow effective support to local actors in reaching the poorest and most vulnerable. Youth, civil society, and Indigenous organizations called for Canada to align climate and nature finance with broader development priorities funded through Canada’s International Assistance Envelope. We also heard that Canada should continue to prioritize climate governance due to its positive impact on capacity-building to address climate change and biodiversity loss in the Global South.
• Engage the Private Sector on Climate and Nature Action: Private sector representatives and public respondents told us that the Government of Canada should deploy more concessional capital (for example, grants) to address investment barriers in developing countries and emerging markets, including support for project preparation and regulatory regimes. Representatives also pointed out that the Government of Canada should have a leading and early-mover role to signal confidence in initiatives and encourage the private sector to co-invest. Participants underlined that the investment opportunities in mitigation were much more developed than in adaptation and nature. We also heard from private sector organizations that Canada should use its seat on the boards of multilateral development banks (MDBs) to bring attention to the need for higher private capital mobilization towards climate and nature and incorporate this into the upcoming G7 presidency agenda for Canada. Canada should explore ways of collaborating with philanthropic funders to scale up successful projects.
• Strengthen a Feminist, Inclusive and Youth-driven Approach: Civil society participants underscored that Canada should design its next commitment with an ambitious approach to gender that includes women’s economic empowerment, financial inclusion, and gender justice (among others). Youth and Indigenous organizations told us that Canada should take an intersectional approach to climate and provide stable and predictable support to youth-led initiatives that develop and scale up innovative and entrepreneurial solutions to climate and nature challenges. Private sector representatives and public respondents called for the continued implementation of the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) as an anchor for gender-transformative climate finance with a strengthened feminist approach, informed by inclusivity and accessibility considerations.
• Keep Canadians Engaged and Leverage Expertise of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs): Representatives from CSOs and youth organizations alongside public respondents said that the Government of Canada should maintain an ongoing dialogue with Canadians through clear messages. Public respondents also suggested keeping Canadians engaged through volunteer programs to contribute their time and skills. There were also calls for the Government of Canada to earmark 20% of its next commitment for Canadian CSOs to leverage their strengths and longstanding relationships with developing countries; and to increase the financial envelope and project timeframes for the Partnering for Climate Initiative and other nature and biodiversity programming.
• Deepen Partnerships with Indigenous Peoples and Organizations: Indigenous organizations and public respondents said that Canada should increase funding for and include biodiversity in the Indigenous Peoples Partnering for Climate Initiative (IPP4C). Canada should invest in building the capacity of Indigenous Peoples and communities both in Canada and in developing countries to engage meaningfully in climate and nature action in developing countries; this includes facilitating knowledge exchanges between Indigenous Peoples. The Government of Canada should facilitate Indigenous Peoples’ direct access to Canadian and multilateral finance and should center Indigenous leadership, including by co-developing initiatives with Indigenous Peoples.

How we reached out and how you responded

The Government of Canada engagement took place between April and June 2024 and encompassed the following:

• 10 engagement and consultation sessions, including 2 Ministerial roundtables, attended in total by 167 representatives from Indigenous organizations, provinces and territories, domestic and international NGOs, youth and the private sector
• 4 webinars with Partnering for Climate applicants and with partners in Africa, and 16 one-on-one meetings with Partnering for Climate Canadian executing agencies
• 15 Canadian overseas missions led regional consultations with 17 partners in the 18 countries they represent
• 173 web submissions from the Canadian and international public, and 1,771 visits to the Government of Canada’s public consultation website

What we heard

Scale up finance for climate and nature action with a focus on vulnerability

Canada has doubled its climate finance twice since the first climate finance commitment in 2010. The current commitment of $5.3 billion has a well-defined results framework to help developing countries transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient, nature-positive, and inclusive sustainable development by targeting clean energy transition and coal phase-out, nature-based solutions and biodiversity, climate-smart agriculture and food systems, and climate governance. Sixty percent of Canada’s current commitment is in the form of concessional loans, and 40% is grants. In 2022, Canada committed to a $350 million International Biodiversity Program (2023-2026) to support developing countries to meet their commitment under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

We heard calls to do the following:

From civil society and youth organizations on the overall funding for climate and nature action:

• Triple the climate finance commitment to $15.9 billion over five years and continue to provide targeted support for nature and biodiversity.
• Increase support and funding for youth-based climate organizations and Indigenous organizations.
• Ensure that an increase in climate and nature funding does not come at the expense of other international development priorities.

From across all respondent groups on Canada’s global leadership on climate and nature:

• Maintain consistent and clear messaging on climate and nature priorities including via signaling an increased financial ambition for climate and nature finance.
• Leverage Canada’s convening powers at COPs and G7/G20 summits to champion ambitious targets and collaborative efforts to increase climate and nature finance.
• Foster Canada’s global leadership standing and bilateral relations by investing in the local priorities of developing countries (i.e. adaptation, water management, renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture and biodiversity loss).
• Lead on gender-responsive and gender-transformative climate action. Ensure that all of Canada’s climate and nature action are at a minimum gender-responsive and increase funding for gender-transformative approaches.
• Leverage Canada’s expertise in impact investing and support risk-tolerant capital to encourage innovation and private sector collaboration.
• Advocate for the inclusion of Indigenous rights and knowledge in international climate agreements and biodiversity frameworks.

From public respondents and civil society organizations on balancing grants and loans:

• Recognize the growing debt crisis and drastic currency devaluations in developing countries, which make loan repayment very difficult. Increase the proportion of grants that directly support impactful bilateral initiatives.
• Provide 60% of climate finance as grants.
• Increase predictability of (grant) funding to align project execution with expected public financing timelines in developing countries.
• Avoid providing loans for adaptation and loss and damage finance.
• Support civil society organizations (CSOs) only through grants.
• Where grants are incompatible, diversify financing mechanisms through public-private partnerships, results-based financing mechanisms, financial instruments, such as debt-for-nature swaps, and alternative financing solutions such as green bonds for climate-smart agriculture.

From public respondents, civil society and youth organizations on climate change mitigation:

• Allocate 40% of the funding towards climate change mitigation.
• Continue to focus on fossil fuel phase-out, including coal specifically, increase renewable energy capacity and support just energy transition strategies.
• Continue the use of innovative finance for coal phase-out.
• Support clean energy initiatives that improve energy security and access, particularly in remote and underserved regions.
• Promote innovative technologies and business models for renewable energy generation, storage, and distribution.
• Encourage projects that generate renewable energy for agriculture, such as solar-powered irrigation and processing facilities.

From civil society and youth organizations on climate change adaptation:

• Demonstrate leadership in conceptualizing adaptation as an investable opportunity, such as through regenerative agriculture.
• Ensure that adaptation funding is in the form of grants (in the absence of investable opportunities and in light of debt burdens).
• Allocate 60% of the funding for climate change adaptation. Some participants also suggested tripling funding for adaptation to align with growing adaptation needs in developing countries.
• Acknowledge that financing for adaptation and nature has different considerations than financing for climate change mitigation: there is a greater role for public concessional finance for the former.
• Explore ways to work with successful youth-led initiatives to deliver adaptation goals.
• Support locally-led adaptation in developing countries.
• Prioritize investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems because it addresses multiple goals simultaneously—climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, and gender equality—while improving food security and food systems.
• Support disaster risk reduction, early warning systems, and climate-resilient infrastructure to minimize displacement.

From civil society, youth, and Indigenous organizations on loss and damage:

• Fund loss and damage through grants and avoid diverting adaptation funding to loss and damage.
• Coordinate loss and damage with climate change adaptation and with humanitarian action. Use a nexus approach to climate, peace, humanitarian assistance, and development. Engage with Indigenous organizations through ongoing dialogue and information-sharing on loss and damage to ensure Indigenous perspectives are considered.

From civil society organizations, and public respondents on geographic and country focus:

• Support the most vulnerable in Sub-Saharan Africa and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
• Use more concessional funds to scale up private finance mobilization in Latin America.
• Respond to the food crisis in Africa by leveraging Canada’s experience in agriculture.
• Support climate-smart agriculture and water management in the Indo-Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America’s Dry Corridor, and Southeast Asia.
• Consider a carved-out commitment for grant financing of projects in conflict-affected states.

From civil society organizations, and public respondents on nature finance and nature-based solutions:

• Show early leadership, as few donors are investing in biodiversity conservation and restoration.
• Be intentional about integrating biodiversity and climate finance.
• Mainstream biodiversity considerations across broader international development financing.
• Increase financial support for marine conservation.
• Support forest conservation to maintain carbon sequestration in the Amazon Rainforest.
• Pursue co-benefits through nature-based solutions to enhance gender equality, development, job creation, community well-being and food security. Continue the prioritization of a nature-positive approach to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
• Provide capacity support to developing countries to develop biodiversity plans, such as National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
• Ensure local community buy-in for nature-based solutions programs. Devote resources to structuring and developing value propositions for nature-based solutions (for example, engage in country-level and subregional economic analyses to identify and size financing value pools).

Focus on effectiveness

Under the $5.3 billion commitment, Canada has supported projects that strengthen enabling environments for effective climate action at global, national, and subnational levels with the goal of fostering greener, more sustainable, and equitable communities. Canada also recognizes the importance of coordinated action for all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Canada’s climate finance contributes to broader goals such as low-carbon, climate-resilient, nature-positive, and inclusive sustainable development. Furthermore, Canada has strived to promote equitable access to finance and improve climate governance in developing countries.

We heard calls to do the following:

From public respondents and civil society, youth, and Indigenous organizations on the effectiveness of climate action:

• Provide predictable, long-term funding to local actors.
• Continue to prioritize climate governance due to its positive impact on building capacity in the Global South by:
  • Enhancing support for community-led governance models that empower local populations in climate decision-making.
• Support developing countries to develop their plans, such as sector-based, national adaptation plans (NAPs), long-term low-emission development strategies (LT-LEDS), and national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs).
• Integrate climate considerations into trade discussions, debt burden, and domestic tax revenues for climate interventions.

From Indigenous, civil society, and youth organizations on ways of working:

• Increase project timelines beyond the traditional 3 to 5 years to enable inclusive, locally aligned design and delivery of nature-based solutions for climate and biodiversity. Canada should increase the timeline to ensure the achievement of results specifically for adaptation projects with gender equality as the principal objective (coded “GE-3”), climate-smart agriculture projects and projects within the Partnering for Climate Initiative.
• Create flexibility in eligibility criteria to allow local organizations in developing countries to access Canadian funding. Establish systems that ensure ongoing and equitable access to climate finance, including options for direct partnership and accreditation systems, including multilateral funds.
• Consider increasing Canada’s risk appetite to support high development impact initiatives in the most affected regions of the world.

From public respondents, and Indigenous and youth organizations on coordinating climate and nature action with broader development goals:

• Ensure Canada’s nature and finance commitment is in line with the Paris Agreement, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (KMGBFF), and the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Support initiatives at the nexus between climate change, biodiversity, economic development, and humanitarian assistance.
• Design climate and biodiversity financing in a way that engages with different knowledge systems and recognizes the interconnection to root causes such as climate change, economic underdevelopment, and gender inequality.
• Ensure the funding commitment is informed by science, and the needs of developing countries and the most vulnerable. Be demand-driven and aligned with the national policies of developing countries.
• Ensure that an increase in climate finance does not detract from other development priorities funded through Canada’s International Assistance Envelope.

Engage the private sector on climate and nature action

Given the scale of financing needed to address climate change and biodiversity loss, it is imperative to maximize all resources available. Public finance alone is not sufficient to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the objectives of the Paris Agreement, or the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (KMGBFF). Domestic and international private and philanthropic finance are needed to fill the investment gaps. It is for this reason that Canada sees the private sector as critical to achieving the necessary ambition on climate and nature finance. This is also why Canada seeks to leverage the use of innovative financial instruments, such as blended finance, to de-risk investments and incentivize private actors to join in the financing for development.

We heard calls to do the following:

From private sector representatives on creating the right enabling environments for investment in developing countries:

• Provide more concessional capital to address investment barriers in emerging and developing economies (for example, address the lack of scalable projects for investment, lack of economic infrastructure, and restrictive regulations).
• Take an approach driven by “ecosystem additionality” – this means selecting transactions based on their potential to leverage other larger co-financiers but also smaller transactions that can transform markets.
• Where possible, act as a lead investor on innovative deals to reduce the perception of risk for the private sector.
• Support efforts to establish a taxonomy to categorize financing as green, transitional and nature-positive, including green bonds and biodiversity credits. Work to establish interoperability between taxonomies in different jurisdictions.
• In individual transactions send the right signals in terms of setting expectations and development impact parameters at the outset.
• Use Canada’s seat on the boards of multilateral development banks to press for greater focus on private capital mobilization, including by adopting specific targets, increasing their capacity to provide guarantees, and incorporating climate and nature risk in their Debt Sustainability Analysis. Also, build this into the upcoming Canadian G7 presidency agenda.

From private sector representatives and public respondents on tools to engage the private sector:

• Continue to provide risk-tolerant blended finance to mobilize private capital for climate and nature investments in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) through loans, equity, mezzanine investments, and guarantees.
• Promote green bonds and climate bonds to raise capital specifically for environmental projects.
• Establish incentives that encourage the private sector to prioritize biodiversity-friendly options for economic profit and planetary benefit.
• Facilitate knowledge-sharing and exchanges between developing countries and Canadian organizations to influence financial sector regulators to promote the adoption of gender and climate-smart approaches in their internal and external operations.
• Support local private sector and entrepreneurs for climate actions and solutions.
• Be aware of the reputational risk that private sector ‘green washing’ activities can bring upon Canada’s reputation abroad.
• Explore ways of collaborating with philanthropic finance to scale up successful projects.

Strengthen a feminist, inclusive and youth-driven approach

Through its climate and nature finance programming, Canada has sought to apply a rights-based, gender-responsive, and intersectional approach. Marginalized groups such as women, girls, persons with disabilities, youth, Indigenous Peoples, and 2SLGBTQI+ persons in developing countries are disproportionately affected by the adverse impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss, which exacerbate existing social inequalities and threaten their health, safety, and economic well-being. Gender inequalities and development gaps amplify the effects on women, especially those who depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. Canada recognizes that environment and climate action will be most effective when marginalized groups play an active role in designing and implementing strategic responses to climate change and environmental issues.

We heard calls to do the following:

From civil society and youth organizations, private sector representatives, and public respondents on gender-responsive climate and nature finance:

• Use the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) as an anchor for delivering gender-just climate and nature finance. Have a feminist approach and use stronger feminist language in the framing of the new commitment.
• Continue championing women’s empowerment, gender equality, human rights, and Indigenous rights.
• Establish clear and reportable targets for gender equality and support local women’s leadership.
• Acknowledge overlapping challenges such as food insecurity, unpaid care burdens, and gender inequality that coalesce to uniquely impact women.
• Partner with CSOs to monitor and document gender inequalities related to climate change.
• Acknowledge how climate change and biodiversity loss exacerbate existing gender inequalities and gender-related health risks.
• Advocate for legal and policy reforms that promote gender equality and remove barriers to women’s participation in climate and nature action, such as land tenure, inheritance rights, and access to education and healthcare.
• Empower women and girls in developing countries through investments in climate-smart agriculture and food systems.
• Shift from gender-responsive to gender-transformative goals and interventions.
• Develop financial products and services that are accessible to women, such as micro-loans, grants, and savings programs.
• Invest in programs that improve women’s access to employment in climate-related sectors, such as renewable energy, agriculture, and entrepreneurship.

From Indigenous and youth organizations on inclusion:

• Fund projects that support 2SLGBTQI+ persons and Indigenous women.
• Take an intersectional approach and avoid grouping marginalized people together, in particular Indigenous Peoples.
• Consider the importance of inclusivity and accessibility in the design of the next commitment.
• Explore opportunities to support people with disabilities impacted by climate change.
• Empower marginalized youth by implementing targeted programs specifically designed for young women, rural youth, and individuals from low-income communities.

From youth organizations on youth engagement:

• Utilize intermediary organizations to facilitate access to funding and ease the administrative burden on local and youth-led organizations.
• Enable more flexible reporting requirements to ease the administrative burden of reporting for small youth-led organizations.
• Provide resources, capacity-building workshops, and training sessions to clarify funding eligibility criteria to youth-led organizations and foster technical skills and knowledge among youth.
• Provide more stable funding to youth-led organizations to enable capacity beyond short grant funding periods.
• Provide financial support to youth-led initiatives that develop and scale up innovative solutions to climate and nature challenges.
• Actively include youth in climate decision-making processes, from community interventions to UNFCCC agreements and within settings, sometimes informal, reflecting local realities.
• Invest in programs and initiatives that promote youth participation and civic engagement in climate and nature governance processes in developing countries.
• Support the creation of youth networks and forums that facilitate knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and advocacy on climate and nature issues.
• Implement robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess the value and impact of youth-led climate initiatives.

Keep Canadians engaged and leverage expertise of civil society organizations (CSOs)

Canada seeks to leverage the knowledge, expertise, and resources of Canadian civil society and Canadians more broadly. For example, in 2022, Canada established the Partnering for Climate initiative to fund projects from civil society, other organizations, and Indigenous Peoples to help developing countries achieve their climate change adaptation objectives.

We heard calls to do the following:

From civil society and youth organizations on the role of civil society organizations:

• Earmark 20% of the total next climate and nature finance commitment for civil society organizations in Canada.
• Leverage Canadian CSOs’ strengths in their longstanding relationships with actors in the Global South to address capacity constraints.
• Work with CSOs to demonstrate Canada’s leadership in gender and climate action to donor and developing countries by addressing the needs, challenges, and leadership of women and girls. Share stories and ensure comprehensive data on Canada’s climate finance is publicized.
• Continue to champion partnerships with civil society organizations and provide longer implementation timelines, building on the experience of the programming and engagement of the Partnering for Climate (P4C) initiative.

From civil society organizations and public respondents on engaging Canadians and Canadian organizations:

• Improve communication about success stories, outcomes, and achievements and increase data transparency. Establish clear and consistent messaging regarding climate and nature finance to demonstrate its importance and relevance to the public.
• Leverage the advocacy and supporter base of Canadian CSOs. Amplify the results through youth organizations.
• Maintain ongoing dialogue and continue to consult the Canadian public.
• Create platforms for dialogue between civil society, government, the private sector, and Indigenous organizations to align interests and identify mutual benefits.
• Coordinate international climate and nature financing initiatives with domestic policies and efforts towards greener, less consumption-based lifestyles for Canadians.
• Support volunteer programs, crowdfunding campaigns, and community-based initiatives that allow Canadians to contribute their time, skills, and resources to Canada’s nature and climate finance.

Deepen partnerships with Indigenous Peoples and organizations

Indigenous Peoples are vital to and active in the many ecosystems that are part of their lands and territories. In addition, Indigenous Peoples, particularly Indigenous women, possess valuable knowledge on how to preserve the environment and build resilience against climate change.

In 2022, Canada established the Indigenous Peoples Partnering for Climate Initiative to support the partnering of Indigenous Peoples in Canada with Indigenous Peoples in developing countries on climate action. This initiative was co-designed with representatives of National Indigenous Organizations and is Indigenous-led.

We heard calls to do the following:

From Indigenous organizations and public respondents on access to funding:

• Increase funding significantly for the Indigenous Peoples Partnering for Climate (IPP4C) Initiative to expand Indigenous-led climate and nature programming. Funding should be accessible and culturally sensitive, and both technical and financial support should be provided.
• Include biodiversity in the IPP4C. Simplify GAC’s requirements, build flexibility, and reduce administrative burdens to enable Indigenous organizations to directly access climate finance (learning from the IPP4C).
• Provide funding in an inclusive and participatory manner with opportunities to co-create projects. Enable more direct access to finance for Indigenous Peoples’ projects and support their self-determination, self-governance, and alignment with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Support investment funds and ventures that specifically target First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Indigenous Peoples in developing countries, such as Amazonia Impact Ventures (AIV) and the Portland Caribbean Fund III.

From Indigenous organizations and public respondents on capacity-building for Indigenous Peoples and organizations:

• Invest in building the capacity of Indigenous Peoples and communities both in Canada and in developing countries to engage meaningfully in climate and nature action in the Global South.
• Link capacity-building initiatives with existing agendas, such as the Indigenous Climate Leadership Agenda (currently delivered by Environment and Climate Change Canada).
• Recognize that capacity-bridging goes in both directions and that the Government of Canada must adjust to support reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.
• Invest in leadership programs to empower Indigenous leaders to spearhead climate and nature action initiatives both locally and internationally. These programs could focus on enhancing skills, knowledge, and capacities, including financial literacy, related to climate adaptation, mitigation, and biodiversity conservation programming.
• Establish robust feedback mechanisms to ensure continuous improvement of Canada’s climate and nature finance based on recommendations from Indigenous communities.
• Facilitate the sharing of stories, best practices, and experiences between Indigenous communities in Canada and in developing countries through cultural exchanges, knowledge-sharing platforms, and collaborative projects.

Moving forward

The Government of Canada is grateful to all the participants for taking part in the consultations and engagements. The rich discussions and ideas shared will help inform the development of Canada’s next climate and nature finance approach, as well as provide valuable guidance for ongoing and future programming. Your inputs will be supplemented by other lessons learned and evidence generated from ongoing development programming and engagement with climate finance recipients, delivery partners and other climate finance donors to establish options for further consideration.

Public consultation questions

Consultation title: Web-based Public Consultation on Canada’s post-2025–2026 international climate and nature finance commitment

Consultation details: Held from May 9, 2024, to June 30, 2024, with 85 organizations and 173 individual participants.

Consultation questions:

1. Under the present commitment, ending in 2026, Canada delivers its international climate finance through a mix of grants and contributions (40%) and concessional loans (60%). Should Canada continue with this approach? If not, how should it change and why?
2. How can Canada better work with partners (for example, private sector, philanthropic organizations, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, etc.) to mobilize more private finance to support actions related to climate, biodiversity and nature in developing countries?
3. Canada’s current climate finance commitment includes resources for Indigenous Peoples Partnering for Climate, an initiative that supports partnerships between Indigenous Peoples in Canada and in developing countries to advance the climate action of Indigenous Peoples abroad. How can Canada expand its work with First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Indigenous Peoples in developing countries on future actions related to climate, biodiversity and nature in developing countries?
4. As part of Canada’s objective of leveraging the climate action expertise of organizations in Canada, $315 million has been allocated for our “Partnering for Climate” initiative over 2021–2026 to fund projects from civil society, Indigenous Peoples and other organizations in Canada. How can Canada better mobilize Canadian expertise and experience in supporting climate, biodiversity, and nature in developing countries?
5. Canada’s current international climate finance commitment focuses on four thematic areas: clean energy transition and coal phase-out; climate-smart agriculture and food systems; nature-based solutions and biodiversity; and climate governance. Which of these areas should Canada continue to prioritize in its future climate and nature finance commitment and why? Are there other areas or sectors that Canada should target to better support actions related to climate, biodiversity and nature in developing countries?
6. Canada’s climate finance is available to all countries that are eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA). Are there regions and/or countries that Canada should prioritize for its climate and nature finance, and if so, why? Within these prioritized regions and/or countries, are there particular climate, biodiversity and nature issues and/or sectors that Canada should support and why?
7. Canada’s current international climate finance commitment aims to have at least 80% of projects integrate gender considerations in line with Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy. What are the best ways for Canada to use its climate and nature finance to ensure that women and girls in developing countries are empowered in these areas?
8. Younger generations will play a critical role in combatting climate change and its impacts, including on nature. How can Canada use its climate and nature finance to help support youth around the world to learn and deploy the skills they need to play a key role in addressing climate change and supporting nature?
9. How can Canada better use its climate and nature finance to play a leadership role internationally?
10. How can Canada better engage and involve Canadians in the work we are doing through our international climate and nature finance?
11. Is there anything else Canada should consider as it plans the next international climate and nature finance commitment?
12. Optional: What is the name of your organization?
13. Optional: What sector is your organization in (academia, private sector, civil society organization, etc.)?