The provision of climate finance to developing countries is an integral aspect of Ireland’s foreign policy, and especially our international development cooperation.
At COP26, held in Glasgow in November 2021, the Taoiseach announced that Ireland would provide at least €225 million in international climate finance to developing countries annually, by 2025. The target represents a more than doubling of our climate finance from 2020 levels.
Ireland’s International Climate Finance Roadmap (2022) sets out our strategy and priorities for this scale-up in funding. It builds on Ireland's positive record on climate finance, maintaining a focus on adaptation in some of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, particularly Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States. It also expands our focus in key areas including ocean protection, biodiversity, and Loss and Damage.
The Government is committed to delivering on the Roadmap and has steadily increased our annual international climate-related expenditure. In 2023, the last year for which complete, verified data are available, Ireland provided €159.2 million in international climate finance. We are fully on track to reach the €225 million target this year, 2025.
An external review of the 2022 Roadmap has been completed in 2025, and it will be used to inform climate finance expenditure in the period 2026-2030.
In Budget 2026, the Government has provided an increase in Official Development Assistance of €30 million for 2026, for the programme of international development cooperation managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This will bring that expenditure to over €840 million, the highest ever allocation in the history of the Irish Aid programme. The entirety of Ireland’s ODA is assessed for climate relevance to calculate our total climate finance contribution and to ensure we continue to meet our climate finance commitments and targets.
