Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption in Climate Finance to Promote Integrity and Action

On 10 December 2024, the TED Network convened a webinar titled "Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption in Climate Finance: Promoting Integrity in Energy Transition and Climate Mitigation Projects." With over 90 minutes of presentations and discussion, the event highlighted the urgent need to address corruption risks to ensure that climate finance reaches its intended beneficiaries and achieves its objectives. 

Opening the event, WG1.2 co-chair Karolina Jozic from the Swedish Development Agency (Sida) stressed the importance of aligning anti-corruption efforts with climate action, calling transparency and accountability indispensable tools for achieving global climate goals. The session was moderated by Dr. Amanda Cabrejo le Roux from the Basel Institute on Governance, who guided the discussion through a range of challenges and innovative approaches. The speakers represented a range of leading institutions dedicated to promoting integrity and transparency in development and climate finance. These included the European Commission, Transparency International, U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, and the CoST Infrastructure Transparency Initiative.

The webinar addressed corruption risks in energy transition projects, the necessity for stronger institutional oversight, and tools to improve transparency across project lifecycles. Discussions drew on real-world examples from global initiatives and highlighted actionable strategies to safeguard public and private investments in climate finance. 

Some takeaways from the panel speakers: 

- Integrating anti-corruption measures into climate finance is non-negotiable. Without integrity safeguards, critical investments risk being diverted or misused, undermining efforts to mitigate climate change. Brice Böhmer from TI presented examples from the Global Climate Corruption Atlas that showed how unchecked corruption can lead to inefficiencies, environmental harm, and missed targets. 

- Transparency throughout the project lifecycle is essential. Innovative tools, such as the CoST Climate Finance Module, presented by Ms. Maria Prado, offers ways to standardise and improve data availability from project planning to decommissioning. Accessible and detailed data empower stakeholders to track project performance and identify risks early. 

- Empowering civil society and indigenous communities impacted by projects is critical to accountability. Aled Williams from U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre stressed that safeguarding tools can themselves become corruption targets, institutional arrangements to bypass corrupt actors often face backlash, and national-level norms frequently fail to reach local levels—making local engagement and oversight essential. 

- The EU Commission is aiming to lead by example, having anti-corruption high on its list of priorities. Jonathan van Meerbeeck shared insight on the ambition to mainstream anti-corruption, in the manner human rights, gender topics and environmental standards have been mainstreamed. The core focus of that process would be through the Global Gateway Initiative. Karin McDonald presented the first guidance note created for the Energy sector, noting risk typologies in the sector and mitigation strategies to address the most grave concerns.

- Global collaboration is key. The fight against corruption in climate finance requires collective action. Networks of policymakers, practitioners, and civil society must work together to share knowledge, develop tools, and implement best practices that uphold the integrity of climate investments. 

The event also shed light on practical measures being taken, such as leveraging data-driven tools and improving project monitoring systems. A forthcoming report from the TED Network will summarize the outcomes and recommendations from this session, offering further guidance for policymakers, donors, and practitioners. 

As climate finance continues to grow in scale and importance, the TED Network is committed to fostering dialogue and collaboration to ensure integrity and accountability remain at the heart of global climate action.