The UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance (SCF), a constituted body under the Convention and the Paris Agreement, will hold three webinars for country representatives, practitioners and experts for an informal exchange on the development of the Fourth Biennial Assessment and Overview of Climate Finance Flows.

The informal webinar provides an opportunity for stakeholders from public and private finance institutions, civil society and governments to provide inputs on activities relevant to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement that may be reflected in the BA. The Fourth BA will map information relevant to Article 2, paragraph 1(c) of the Paris Agreement on ‘’making finance flows consistent with a pathway toward low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development’’.  

In particular, the webinar follows up on progress related to key recommendations from the 2018 BA, including on:

• Mapping available datasets (recommendation (i): Request the SCF to continue its work in the mapping of available data sets that integrate climate change considerations into insurance, lending and investment decision-making processes, and to include information relevant to Article 2, paragraph 1(c), of the Paris Agreement in future Bas);
• Take into consideration information relevant to the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement (recommendation (q): Request the SCF, in preparing the 2020 BA, to take into consideration available information relevant to Article 2 of the Paris Agreement).

The SCF assists the COP in exercising its functions in relation to the Financial Mechanism of the Convention.

For the fourth time, the SCF will prepare the Biennial Assessment and Overview of Climate Finance Flows. The first BA was prepared in 2014.The second BA was prepared in 2016 and the third BA was prepared in 2018. The summary and recommendation by the SCF on the 2018 BA is contained in annex to decision 4/CP.24. The underlying technical reports are viewable here. The Fourth BA will focus on climate finance flows for 2017 and 2018 as well as any identified trends from previous years.

The SCF, through the BA and other activities, contributes to the progressive improvement of the compilation of climate finance information. Additionally, the COP, in decision 1/CP21, paragraph 94 (e), has also requested the Ad-hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement, when developing the modalities, procedures, and guidelines for the transparency framework for action and support, to consider, inter alia, information in the BA. Furthermore, Parties, in the context of discussions on the development of the modalities and identification of sources of inputs for the global stocktake under the APA, have referred to the BA as vehicle to inform global stocktakes with respect to support to developing countries, as well as the broader climate financial and investment flows.