Coding and tracking adaptation finance: lessons and opportunities for monitoring finance across international and national scales

This paper, focusing on adaptation finance, explores the concept of ‘climate finance’ in national budgetary systems and proposes pragmatic ways forward that will strengthen the policy debate. Recognising that processes of coding and tracking of adaptation are executed for a number of different purposes (depending on the users and their respective needs), the paper argues for more innovative systems to be trialled and implemented at all levels. It calls for the diversification of categories used to track adaptation activities, to include factors such as sectoral distribution, geographic location, and type of adaptation. It proposes that efforts to track and code adaptation spending, and efforts to monitor effectiveness of adaptation activities, should be more closely aligned and integrated.

The paper is intended to help prevent the skewed nature of adaptation investments – encouraging a balance between investments in highly visible infrastructural and technical outcomes with support for less tangible capacity-strengthening and governance-related initiatives. It is primarily aimed at a technical audience – one broadly familiar with the intricacies of coding and tracking systems. However, key messages and potential next steps are relevant to all stakeholders in the climate finance debate. This paper is part of a trilogy that explores the concept of ‘climate finance’ in national budgetary systems and proposes pragmatic ways forward to strengthen the policy debate.