International Support for Climate Change Capacity Development and Policy Implications for Korea


Jione Jung and Jihei Song

From Paris Declaration to Busan Partnership, High Level discussions on aid effectiveness have emphasized the need to improve developing countries’ capacity. It was mentioned that self-reliant capacity of developing countries is a key condition for sustained growth, and that donor countries’ active support is essential in fostering such capacity.

Meanwhile, at the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the parties reached an agreement on two significant issues. Firstly, the parties agreed to scale up climate finance to 100 billion dollars annually by year 2020. In addition, the parties agreed to establish the Green Climate Fund, a specialized international fund on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Six countries, including Korea offered to host the secretariat. At the second meeting in November 2012, the GCF Board members decided that the secretariat would be hosted by Korea. The Conference of the Parties session, held the following month, acknowledged the Board’s decision. Thus, Korea officially became the host country of the Green Climate Fund Secretariat.

In order to expedite action against the adverse impacts of climate change and shift to a low-carbon development paradigm, the GCF will concentrate on building developing countries’ capacity against climate change in the initial stages of its operation. Korea has pledged to provide 40 million dollars to assist climate-related capacity building in developing countries. As a consequence, establishing climate capacity programs to foster country ownership and also to link the programs with the GCF’s own capacity support has now become an urgent task. The program must also be innovative and effective in order to differentiate itself from existing programs. This study seeks to examine the international consensus related to capacity in developing countries. By reviewing previous and current activities on climate capacity promoted by international organizations and donor countries, the paper seeks to serve as a fundamental reference for Korea’s support on climate capacity.

The study is structured in the following order. As mentioned above, international discussions and consensus on capacity and capacity development are outlined in Chapter Two. To clarify an abstract term like “capacity,” the study borrows definitions from the OECD Development Assistance Committee. In the second part of the chapter, a review is provided on the negotiations and decisions made under the UNFCCC on capacity building. Chapters Three and Four describe some notable climate capacity support activities pursued by the World Bank, UNDP, and three donor countries: Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. The World Bank with abundant experience in large-scale projects, recognizes the importance of the recipients’ capacity in order to maintain aid effectiveness. The UNDP, likewise, has sufficient experience in implementing capacity projects. Meanwhile, Germany has been long involved in technical assistance and it is now actively expanding the scope of activities to include various interrelated topics. On the other hand, although not substantial in size, Denmark and Sweden also provide sizable assistance and display extensive interest in capacity development on environment and climate change.

To conclude, Chapter Five seeks to provide suggestions for Korea in order to support climate capacity. First of all, stakeholders’ understanding in capacity and capacity development is a priority. Through its own experience, Korea genuinely recognizes the necessity of capacity and possesses the willpower to pursue capacity development. Building on its understanding and experience, Korea will be able to match suitable activities with countries in need. In addition, principle and process regarding capacity development need to be established. Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Ministry of Environment could consider cooperation in developing a framework for climate capacity development at the national level.

The next task is to develop distinctive and innovative ideas on climate capacity. For instance, Korea could consider launching an online platform on green growth policy, strategy, legal framework, and technology in close collaboration with the Global Green Growth Institute. Such platform could serve as a medium to match developing countries’ needs with donors’ expertise. Furthermore, integrating capacity development into general international development activities can produce positive added impact. As an example, Denmark promotes capacity development as an element in each stage of their program. Likewise, Korea could include capacity development in its overall climate change projects.

Finally, internal or domestic capacity on the topic of climate change in Korea must be developed sufficiently. Activities in that regard include, needs assessment, program structuring, as well as monitoring and evaluation. In the internal capacity improvement process, private experts should also be included along with public implementing agency stakeholders. Especially since climate change covers a wide range of topics, a large pool of capacity specialists from private and public sectors alike can create a positive impact and is highly desirable.