Meeting the needs and priorities of developing countries has been central in discussions on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance, which will be concluded by 2025. There is an expectation that developing countries’ needs will set the quantum target for this new goal.

Unlike other NCQG elements, there is strong agreement that developing country needs and priorities must be embedded in a new climate finance goal. How this will happen has not been explored in sufficient depth. This is an oversight, as meaningfully embedding developing country needs in the NCQG can set a path to more effective climate finance and increase trust in international cooperation on climate change.

This paper identifies five challenges to embedding developing country needs in the NCQG, suggests two narratives intended to help overcome these challenges, and proposes six concrete options for including developing country needs in the design of the new climate finance goal.

With six NCQG technical expert dialogues remaining, this paper is intended to stimulate dialogue as deliberations move forward.

Report by the Overseas Development Institute