Two governments have detailed climate funding plans as ministers meet for a summit where the scale, delivery and fairness of support remain under debate among nations, as talks seek common ground at COP31 now.
Canada and the United Kingdom have announced funding plans for developing countries as negotiations continue at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye.
On November 13, Canada's Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin and UK Minister of State for Climate Transition Katie White reaffirmed support for the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), agreed at COP29 in 2024.
The agreement calls for climate finance from all sources to reach $1.3 trillion annually by 2035, with developed countries leading efforts to mobilise at least $300 billion a year. The ministers restated their obligations under Article 9 of the Paris Agreement to provide finance to developing countries and backed efforts to triple adaptation finance by 2035, after COP30.
Canada said it had delivered more than C$14.3 billion ($10.02 billion) in international climate finance since 2015. It estimates the support could avoid nearly 658 million tonnes of emissions by 2050 and help 40.2 million people adapt to climate impacts.
In April 2026, Canada set a five-year goal of providing more than C$14 billion ($9.8 billion) in support. The package includes grants, concessional loans, multilateral development bank financing, FinDev Canada investments and efforts to attract private capital.
On November 13, Dabrusin announced C$116 million ($81.27 million) for 12 projects, the first funding under the goal.
The UK said its climate finance programme had helped 159 million people adapt since 2011, reduced or avoided 201 million tonnes of emissions and supported sustainable management of 21.5 million hectares. It reported mobilising £26 billion ($34.82 billion) in public and private finance.
Funding plans emerge amid COP31 disagreements
The UK delivered £12.8 billion ($16.93 billion) in international climate finance between 2021-22 and 2025-26. It has outlined £6 billion ($7.94 billion) through official development assistance over the next three years, mostly as grants, and £6.7 billion ($8.87 billion) in public investments outside that assistance.
Canada and the UK welcomed plans by FinDev Canada, British International Investment and Norway's Norfund to collaborate on mobilising $10 billion in climate finance by 2030.
The announcements come amid divisions at COP31, running from November 9 to 20. At the opening plenary, countries agreed to include the two-year Climate Finance Work Programme (CFWP), established at COP30, on the agenda to advance finance discussions.
A proposal to make tripling adaptation finance an agenda item was dropped after countries failed to reach consensus. India regretted the decision, while the European Union raised concerns about the work programme.
The United Nations Environment Programme's 2026 Adaptation Gap Report estimates developing countries will need $305 billion annually for adaptation by 2035. International public adaptation finance between developed and developing countries stood at $28.2 billion to $31.7 billion in 2024.
Speaking at the seventh biennial high-level ministerial dialogue on climate finance on November 13, UN climate chief Simon Stiell warned that meeting financial targets would not necessarily mean developing countries' needs had been met.
He urged countries to use the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap to turn the $1.3 trillion annual goal into reality before COP31 ends.
