At the twenty-third session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) in 2017, the COP requested the UN Climate Change secretariat, in collaboration with the operating entities of the Financial Mechanism, United Nations agencies and bilateral, regional or multilateral channels, to explore ways and means to assist developing country Parties in assessing their needs and priorities, in a country-driven manner, including technological and capacity-building needs, and in translating climate finance needs into action (Long-term finance decision 6/CP.23, para 10). 

At the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) in 2021, the COP reiterated the above mandate (Long-term finance decision 4/CP.26, para 22).

The secretariat was also requested by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board to facilitate the financing of projects and use of the CDM by international finance institutions, as requested by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) (3/CMP.1, Annex, para B 4(d); 3/CMP.1, Annex, para C 5(i); 6/CMP.11, para 8; 12/CMA.1).

In response to these mandates the UN Climate Change secretariat launched the Needs-based Finance (NBF) project with the objective of facilitating access and mobilization of climate finance for the implementation of priority mitigation and adaptation projects to address the needs identified by developing countries.

NBF activities are country-driven, with regional projects being undertaken by groups of countries which share geographical boundaries and/or economic interests.

Partners include:

Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)	East African Community (EAC)	Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
League of Arab States (LAS)	Melanesian Spearhead Group    (MSG)	Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
	United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA)	United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)

Others include the governments of:

• the Asian Least Developed Countries,
• Indian Ocean Small Island Developing States,
• and Polynesia.

For national NBF projects the secretariat has to date collaborated with the governments of:

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Belize
• Cambodia
• Honduras
• Lebanon
• Philippines
• Uruguay

The NBF projects aim to…

• Strengthen mobilization of and access to climate finance through the assessment of needs, flows and actions, followed by development and implementation of Climate Finance Mobilization and Access Strategies, aligned with existing climate and development plans and strategies;
• Identify and implement priority mitigation and adaptation projects and action pipelines with partners;
• Accelerate implementation of relevant national climate change and development strategies and policy frameworks including Biennial Update Reports (BURs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs), National Communications (NCs), Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS), Technology Action Plans (TAPs), Technology Needs Assessments (TNAs), etc;
• Collaborate with country-owned approaches to strengthen the articulation of climate finance needs;
• Enhance and build on synergies with other mandates and processes under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, complementing existing climate finance related work conducted in the countries and regions to build collaborations and avoid duplicating efforts;
• Enable capacity-building including peer-to-peer learning contributing to a better understanding of needs, sources, available instruments, barriers and enabling environments for climate finance.
• Foster regional cooperation focusing on shared regional interests across national needs, priorities and opportunities.

Each NBF project aims to deliver the following outputs for the country or region under consideration:

1. Technical assessment of climate finance comprising:
   • An overview and assessment of climate finance flows from domestic, regional and international sources of climate finance;
   • An overview and assessment of finance and investment policies and enabling factors across priority sectors and policies and strategic level opportunities;
   • An overview and assessment of climate finance needs across priority sectors with a view to developing aggregate figures;
2. Based on the technical assessment, a Climate Finance Mobilization and Access Strategy with actions, recommendations and an implementation roadmap, based on existing climate related strategies;
3. A pipeline of priority climate projects/investments/transactions/facilities/initiatives;

The NBF project process consists of three phases: (i) inception, technical assessment, and partnership building, (ii) technical validation, strategy and pipeline development, (iii) political endorsement, project hand-over and resource mobilization.

Phase I - Inception, technical assessment, and partnership building

• Engagement with representatives from national climate/environment and finance ministries, as well as regional climate finance institutions, relevant stakeholders and experts;
• Assessment of climate finance flows, analyzing available data;
• Mapping of climate finance sources, channels and instruments;
• Assessment of climate finance needs and priorities, based on official national reports and other relevant documents (e.g. BURs, NAPs, NAPAs, NCs, NDCs, LEDS, TNAs, TAPs, country programmes of climate funds and MDBs, climate strategies), as well as relevant national/regional documents;
• Identification of barriers to accessing climate finance and climate finance gaps;

Phase II - Technical validation, strategy and pipeline development

• Review and validation of the technical assessment by national representatives of climate/environment and finance ministries, relevant stakeholders and experts;
• Development of a Climate Finance Mobilization and Access Strategy, identifying and prioritizing needs and strategic actions;
• Development of a pipeline of priority climate projects/programmes/initiatives/funding facilities;
• Development of an implementation plan;

Phase III - Political endorsement, project hand-over and resource mobilization

• Endorsement of the strategy at the highest political level;
• Outreach to relevant financial institutions to mobilize support for implementation;
• Promotion of the developed project pipeline;
• Matching of priority needs and projects with funds, kick-starting implementation;
• Full hand-over of the project from the UN Climate Change secretariat to identified regional/national partners;
• Continued support by the UN Climate Change secretariat as defined in present and future mandates.

All NBF activities require a partnership agreement between the UN Climate Change secretariat and a regional organization or government(s) outlining the steps, roles and modalities of collaboration and a country-based or regional time-bound set of deliverables.
National, regional, and international climate finance experts and key stakeholders are engaged in the process to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration.
Collaboration with relevant development partners and finance institutions are essential for implementation success and matching of priority needs with sources of finance.

If interested in being a partner, recipient or offer support, please contact: climatefinance@unfccc.int

The UN Climate Change secretariat facilitates all NBF activities and assists countries in their assessment of needs, development of strategies and setting of priorities for the mobilization and access of climate finance. The UN Climate Change secretariat Regional Collaboration Centres (RCCs) further provide on the ground assistance from six offices across the globe in Bangkok (hosted by IGES), Dubai (WGEO), Kampala (EADB), Lomé (BOAD), Panama (CAF), and St. George's (WINDREF).
Support includes:

• Project management to ensure project design is tailored to specific needs and priorities of countries and delivers on objectives;
• Convening workshops at relevant project stages, using its technical and facilitative expertise, providing funding, administrative, and organizational support;
• Providing expertise and assistance in the technical assessments and the development of strategies;
• Assisting in stakeholder identification, including key public and private financing institutions (domestic/international) and facilitating engagement;
• Promoting pipelines of priority projects identified through the NBF processes with key stakeholders, including national actors and international institutions;
• Facilitating the exchange of experiences and lessons learned across countries and regions, including peer-to-peer learning support.