International institutions and national governments have mobilized hundreds of billions of dollars to mitigate the causes and adapt to the effects of climate change and build resilience to droughts, storms and food shortages that are hitting harder and more often every year. This funding, if managed well, can make a real difference in the lives of those who are disproportionately impacted, such as women, farmers, indigenous people and coastal communities. However, public participation in the creation of climate budgets has been limited to date.

Without meaningful public participation and engagement, it is difficult for governments to provide effective climate financing that aligns with citizen priorities, leaving the average person to fend for themself when responding and adapting to climate change. There must also be abundant engagement between those from civil society, the executive, legislature and audit institutions. This engagement should happen throughout the budget cycle and can be in both formal and informal spaces. Civil society organizations have a critical role to play because they possess knowledge about community needs and potential solutions critical to government decision making. However, to play this vital role effectively, they need access to information on how the government is raising and spending funds for climate action and opportunities to participate in budget processes.

• Supported partners in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal to use budget analysis and advocacy strategies to better track and analyze their governments’ climate budgets to ensure these funds were spent effectively and efficiently and reached at-risk communities.
• Created the “People, Planet and Public Finance” podcast series to share new research and analysis, as well as innovative approaches and promising models for responding to the climate-related fiscal accountability challenge.