Analysis On European Union’s Climate Assistance Policy And Its Implementation

Climate change has become an important pillar of the European Union(EU)’s diplomatic strategy.In December 2019,the European Parliament upgraded it to "climate emergency" and the European Commission issued a new policy paper-the "European Green Deal”to promote the sustainable development.One of the most essential part of this new strategy is to vigorously carry out the "Green Deal Diplomacy" and actively seek for leadership in global climate governance.To achieve the leadership role in global climate governance,developing climate assistance is of critical importance.According to the definition in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC),the definition of climate assistance includes financial support and technology transfers.In the EU’s climate diplomacy,climate assistance is one of its priorities.The EU’s climate assistance policy was first issued in 2003.Since then,EU’s climate assistance policy has been continuously updated,spreading into new areas.Although the progress of EU’s climate assistance has experienced some ups and downs,the scale of climate assistance has been constantly expanding.Now,the EU has become the biggest contributor of public climate finance to developing countries.The EU not only provides grand funding directly to the most underdeveloped countries,but also leverages climate-resilient and low-carbon investments from the private sector with large amounts of funding.Despite the enormous financial support,the technology transfers are still backward,with the additional limitation that most of the assistance only reached EU’s surrounding countries and regions.The EU’s climate assistance is carried out within the framework of official development assistance(ODA).Currently,there are three main types:first,Global Climate Change Alliance+;second,EU External Investment Plan;third,financial and technological assistance mechanisms of UNFCCC,such as Green Climate Fund.In general,EU’s climate assistance policy has achieved good results.While safeguarding its own interests and enhancing its international influence,it has also improved the ability of the recipient countries and regions to cope with climate change and contributed to the achievement of the global sustainable development goals.However,the effectiveness of EU’s climate assistance policy and its implementation still need to be improved.On the one hand,the division of responsibilities remains vague inside the EU and there are considerate differences on key issues such as financial contribution.On the other hand,the EU and recipient countries suffer from low mutual trust due to the low transparency of funding.The domestic problems in the recipient countries,such as corruption typically,have become obstacles to the implementation of climate assistance.To get out of the dilemma of low effectiveness,the EU needs to strengthen internal communication and coordination,give full play to the comparative advantages of its member states,and avoid assistances that are repetitive and of low quality.At the same time,the EU should speed up the formulation of a clearer roadmap for climate action,establish an effective monitoring,reporting and verification system,and increase technology transfers,so as to fundamentally and effectively help developing countries achieve ecological,economic and social sustainable development.