Honiara, 28 February 2025 – The Solomon Islands Government (SIG) reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing access to climate finance and strengthening public spending during the 2nd Climate Typology Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting, held at the Ministry of National Planning and Aid Coordination (MNPDC)).
This Technical-level discussion marked a crucial step in advancing climate budget tagging (CBT) and mainstreaming resilience into public financial management (PFM) systems.
The meeting was chaired by the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management, and Meteorology (MECDM) Deputy Director for Climate Change, with the Director of Budget from the Ministry of Finance and Treasury (MoFT) serving as Co-Chair.
This leadership underscores the government’s cross-sectoral approach to strengthening climate finance governance, expenditure tracking, and policy reforms.
The TWG, a key initiative under the SIG’s Climate Finance Access Roadmap (2022–2027), brings together representatives from the Ministry of Finance and Treasury (MoFT), Ministry of National Planning and Development Coordination (MNPDC) and the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management, and Meteorology (MECDM).
Recognizing the importance of strengthening national systems, the government has taken the lead in establishing the TWG as a coordinating mechanism for climate finance planning, expenditure tracking, and policy alignment. This initiative is part of ongoing national efforts to mainstream climate resilience in public financial management.
Chaired by MECDM, with MoFT as Co-Chair, the meeting focused on governance arrangements, methodology for mainstreaming climate change into PFM, and preparations for piloting ex-ante budget tagging, a critical tool for tracking climate expenditures.
Finalization of Governance Arrangements: The TWG reviewed the finalized Terms of Reference (ToR), outlining its mandate to support the development of climate change typology, expenditure tracking solutions, and risk management frameworks.
Mainstreaming Climate Change into PFM: The TWG reviewed the draft Climate Change (CC) Classification Table and discussed its alignment with the National Adaptation Plan (NAP), Low Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) and Cross cutting policies, reinforcing SIG’s strategy to integrate climate considerations into financial decision-making.
Piloting Ex-ante Tagging: Piloting ex-ante budget tagging is a pivotal step in identifying and prioritizing climate expenditures. The TWG recommended developing criteria for selecting sector ministries, which will be presented at the next TWG meeting agreed to be held towards the end of the second quarter of 2025.
As one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable Island nations, Solomon Islands is working to bridge the gap between planning and budgeting, ensuring climate finance is effectively accessed, allocated, and managed. The TWG’s coordinated efforts support transparent, data-driven decision-making that strengthens national resilience.
The Climate Finance Resilience Unit (CFRU), of the Ministry of Finance & Treasury will continues to provide secretarial support to the TWG, ensuring that decisions and reforms are effectively implemented. The TWG will play a central role in supporting national and international commitments, including SIG’s ambition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
The next TWG meeting is scheduled to further refine climate budget tagging methodologies, enhance inter-ministerial coordination, and strengthen resilience-building strategies.
The Solomon Islands government acknowledges the UNDP Governance for Resilient Development in the Pacific (Gov4Res) Project for the technical assistance in supporting the formulation of the TWG. UNDP Gov4Res continues to provide ongoing support for climate budget tagging (CBT), a tool that enhances the government’s ability to track and allocate climate-related expenditures effectively.
For Further Inquiries:
Chris Wagatora
Chief Climate Finance Resilience Officer, Climate Finance Resilience Unit, Ministry of Finance and Treasury (MOFT)
Email: [email protected]
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-GCU
