New OECD figures show climate finance reaching $136.7bn in 2024

New figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development show that climate finance provided and mobilised by developed countries rose to USD 132.8 billion in 2023 and USD 136.7 billion in 2024. While the figures suggest an upward trend, campaigners warn that the headline increase mask deeper concerns about adequacy and overall reduced aid.

The OECD methodology has long been criticized for overstating finance provided, meaning the increase is likely less significant under strict accounting standards. The rise also comes as overall development aid budgets are declining in several major economies, raising concerns that climate finance is increasingly repackaged from shrinking aid flows rather than representing new and additional resources.

There are also growing concerns about whether this trend will continue and even without these caveats the amount and growth rate of climate finance remain far too low.

Andreas Sieber, Head of Politics at 350.org, “ While the OECD reports a rise in climate finance, progress  remains far too slow t for the scale of the climate crisis. And these figures while showing progress represent likely an overstatement What we are increasingly seeing is a larger climate slice taken from a shrinking development finance pie, raising serious questions about whether richer countries are delivering genuinely new resources or simply relabelling declining aid budgets.”

In a single quarter this year, companies like BP and TotalEnergies made profits that exceeded the annual increase in climate finance. There is no shortage of money, there is a shortage of political will.

This is not just a technical discussion about flows of money. It is a question of justice. Communities in the Global South are paying the price for a crisis they did not cause, while fossil fuel companies continue to profit. The climate finance gap is not only about increasing pledges, but about redirecting financial flows away from polluting industries and towards climate resilience, adaptation, and a just energy transition.”

ENDS

350.org is an international climate justice movement working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all. The “Great Power Shift” campaign connects household economic pain directly to fossil fuel profit extraction, demanding windfall taxes, subsidy phase-outs, and a just energy transition.