Full Title: From Investment to Impact: Quantifying the Emissions Reduction Benefits of U.S. International Climate Programs
Author(s): Maria Belenky
Publisher(s): Climate Advisers
Publication Date: November 1, 2015
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
What is the impact of U.S. programs on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions outside the United States? This paper offers an initial answer. A careful review of available public information about U.S. international climate programs suggests these programs may support reductions of a quarter to nearly half a billion tons of GHG emissions annually — similar in scale to the annual domestic reductions expected from the administration’s Clean Power Plan. Since 2010, the United States has dedicated nearly $13 billion to international climate programs.
1 Most of these funds support efforts to reduce emissions in developing countries, although a substantial amount is also invested in climate adaptation and resiliency projects.
While the U.S. government, international organizations and non-governmental groups have sought to track the size, regional distribution and goals of these programs, little is known about their aggregate mitigation impact. To begin filling this information gap, and to encourage more comprehensive and transparent reporting of the climate impact of U.S. development assistance, Climate Advisers undertook an exercise to estimate the annual emissions reductions from programs funded through U.S. international climate assistance.