Climate finance by Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) for low- and middle-income economies reached a record $60.7 billion in 2022, up by 46 per cent over the 2019 volumes, a joint report has shown.

Of the amount, about $38.0 billion or 63 per cent, went into climate change mitigation, while $22.7 billion or 37 per cent was for adaptation.

The Joint Report on MDBs Climate Finance is a yearly collaborative effort to publish expenditure, with a clear explanation of the methodologies for tracking progress and targets, such as those announced at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21) and the greater ambition pledged for the 2021-2025 period.

The volumes include $22.7 billion for climate change adaptation; worldwide climate finance reached nearly $100 billion, up from $82 billion in 2021, while global private finance stands at $69 billion, up from $41 billion in 2021.

Also, mobilised private finance stood at $16.9 billion, the report indicated. The announcement comes as delegates meet in Marrakesh, Morocco, for the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings, where scaling up public climate finance, particularly for low- and middle-income economies, tops the agenda.

The report said in 2022, MDBs allocated $38.8 billion to high-income economies. Of this, $36.3 billion or 94 per cent was for climate change mitigation and $2.5 billion or six per cent went into adaptation. Mobilised private finance stood at $51.9 billion.

With the record 2022 climate finance volumes, MDBs, for the second year in a row, exceeded the 2025 climate finance targets they set for themselves at the UN Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit in 2019.

These include delivering a cumulative $50 billion in climate finance for low- and middle-income economies, at least $65 billion globally, with an expected doubling in adaptation finance to $18 billion, and private mobilisation of $40 billion.

For instance, the report highlighted that the African Development Bank Group’s climate finance investments increased from $2.1 billion in 2020 to $2.4 billion in 2021, and $3.6 billion in 2022.

The group’s Director for Climate Change and Green Growth Department, Anthony Nyong, said the institution recognises the urgency to mobilise climate finance at scale to address impacts and harness opportunities on the continent.