The Danish Climate Pool

The Danish focus areas in 2011 show that greater priority is being attached to bilateral efforts.
With the Copenhagen Accord (COP15), the developed countries  committed to provide up to $30 billion for the period 2010-2012 as start-up funding for the developing countries for climate adaptation, emission mitigation, capacity building, technology, and forests.

The EU has announced that it will provide €7.2 billion for the period 2010-2012. The Danish contribution amounts to DKK 1.2 billion and is taken from the Government’s Climate Pool. The funds in the Climate Pool are allocated over the three-year period with respectively DKK 300 million in 2010, DKK 400 million in 2011, and DKK 500 million in 2012.

Allocation of Climate Pool Funds
Each year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Climate and Energy discuss the allocation of the Climate Pool funds, which must be approved by the Government.

In continuation of the Copenhagen Accord, the implementation principles focus on three areas: climate adaptation, mitigation efforts (including forests and technology transfer), and cross-disciplinary efforts, including support of civil society activists. A balance between adaptation and mitigation efforts is sought, where no more than 50% of the funds are used for adaptation measures.

In 2010, the funds were primarily allocated through multilateral channels with the aim of swift implementation. The concrete allocation for the focus areas is: DKK 161 million for mitigation, including forests and renewable energy; DKK 118 million for climate adaptation; and DKK 29 million for cross-disciplinary measures and start-up of a number of bilateral measures.

Danish focus areas in 2011
In continuation of the Government’s principles for the implementation of the Climate Pool, the priority has been the developing countries’ development of mitigation plans, and principles for measurement, reporting, and verification was prioritised in 2011. Furthermore, Denmark has prioritised the most vulnerable island nations, furthered private sector investments and supported the developing countries in terms of furthering climate-friendly, green growth, and has allocated funds for supporting forhandlingsnære, nye principper og fora.

Overall, a greater priority is being attached to bilateral work between countries. See an indicative list of the Danish focus areas for 2011.It is important for the confidence among the countries, and for the further negotiations, that the developed countries live up to the commitments, and communicate openly about the start-up funding conditions. On the initiative of the Netherlands, a website has been created that shows the amount individual countries are contributing as start-up funding.