Baku to Belem Roadmap on Climate Finance
One of the ambitious commitments from COP29 in Baku last year was the ‘Baku to Belem Roadmap,’ aiming to mobilize $1.3 trillion in annual climate finance by 2035. While countries agreed to finance $300 billion annually, achieving the full $1.3 trillion remains uncertain.
The Roadmap, published late Wednesday, seeks to address this challenge through a comprehensive and integrated 5R framework to scale up climate finance for developing countries. This will support Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and National Adaptation Plan (NAP) implementation, as well as sustainable development.
The 5Rs Framework
- Replenishing — Grants, concessional finance, and low-cost capital
- Rebalancing — Fiscal space and debt sustainability
- Rechannelling — Transformative private finance and affordable cost of capital
- Revamping — Capacity and coordination for scaled climate portfolios
- Reshaping — Systems and structures for equitable capital flows
The roadmap focuses heavily on mobilizing private finance, which could potentially contribute over half of the $1.3 trillion target.
Structural Changes in Finance
The revamping component calls for a fundamental restructuring of the international financial system to better support climate goals.
Defining the quality of climate finance is important,” says Labanya Jena, Director of Climate and Sustainability Initiative (CSI).
This framework aims to improve coordination, capacity, and financial structures to unlock the necessary funding for climate action.
Summary
The Baku to Belem Roadmap emphasizes mobilizing private finance through an integrated 5R framework but leaves questions about accountability and full feasibility of reaching the $1.3 trillion goal.
Author’s summary: The Baku to Belem Roadmap sets an ambitious but challenging path to climate finance, prioritizing private investments and systemic reforms without fully addressing accountability.