How we are turning our strategy into action
Decision-making about the distribution of the NZ$1.3 billion climate portfolio is led by a Climate Portfolio Steering Group (CPSG) within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
This group’s recommendations to the final financial decision-makers is guided by the Aotearoa New Zealand International Climate Finance Strategy – Tuia te Waka a Kiwa [PDF, 915 KB]. There is a tiered decision-making delegation framework, depending on the size of the funded amount.
When deciding about proposed use of climate finance, the steering group considers how well the activity lines up with the four goals, and 12 outcomes, set out in the strategy. Factors include geographic distribution, the proportion of adaptation and emissions reduction activities, and other preferences – see Our strategy.
Climate-focused funding makes up one-third of the Ministry’s overall International Development Cooperation (IDC) programme. The well-established processes used to manage the wider development programme are used for the climate portfolio where possible.
Two important parts of the climate portfolio approach are to increase the scale of funded activities, and to streamline processes – these both are aimed at the funding having faster and greater impact. All activities within the portfolio require a ‘Better business case’ process to support discussion and decision-making.
Improvements to support the increased climate finance commitment for 2022–2025 (four times larger than for 2019–2022) include more resourcing to implement and support the new activities, and refreshed oversight and management for the expanded portfolio – also see Assurance.
Monitoring, tracking and reporting are critically important. There is regular reporting on the pipeline (projects in planning mode), on progress, and on performance – this monitors progress on spending the finance and achieving the outcomes of the strategy.
The climate finance strategy is focused on making a difference. As well as tracking the numbers, we also listen to the people in communities we engage with, to understand how our work has positively impacted their lives.