I propose to take Questions Nos. 230 to 232, inclusive, together.
The provision of climate finance to developing countries is an important element 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 is available, Ireland provided €159.2 million in international climate finance. We are fully on track to reach the €225 million target for 2025.
To calculate the total amount reportable as international climate finance spending, all of Ireland’s ODA is assessed for climate-relevance following verification by the OECD Development Assistance Committee. This verification process for 2024 data has now been concluded and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will publish the final details of Ireland's Climate and Environmental Finance Report for 2024 later this year.
An external review of the 2022 Climate Finance Roadmap was completed in 2025, and it will be used to inform climate finance expenditure in the period 2026-2030. A management response to the review by the Department will be published on the Department's website in February 2026.
