An assessment of climate finance governance Maldives

Abstract

The Climate Finance Integrity Programme was piloted in 2011 by Transparency International in six countries, including the Maldives, to monitor the increasing climate related finance, the governance of raising and managing these funds and the governance of these funds within selected developing countries. This report is the national report for the mapping assessment conducted for Maldives. The research has briefly looked at all institutions that were or are still active during the research phase, from 2011 to mid-2013, in the delivery and monitoring of climate change projects that were funded by the government or externally. Institutions are analysed briefly in terms of governance and transparency aspects in relation to use of climate finance. Through this mapping process, a number of challenges have been revealed. While stakeholder consultations do take place, transparency in reporting projects and progress on a continuous basis can be improved. There have also at times been unclear decision-making processes in effect. There are a number of strategic documents pertaining to climate change strategy for this period, which can potentially create confusion on priorities. Criteria for the selection of projects are not very clear in general across the government, such as the projects funded by the national budget or by donors. This results in difficulties for external monitoring of whether the projects or islands being selected are the most needed climate change adaptation and mitigation measures. Monitoring of climate projects is in general carried out by the implementing agency itself only. The possible introduction of a new institution to consolidate all climate projects has been announced and while this may bring benefit in terms of much needed stability to the climate finance institutional framework, greater transparency in reporting and the setting up of public complaints mechanisms must be ensured. Concerns raised by independent oversight bodies need to be addressed for improvements. It is also important to ensure that an effective mechanism is in place within parliament to review all the ministries and independent institutions, since many in the climate landscape are directly accountable to parliament. Areas for improvement for donors include to always conform to the procedures set in place by the government and to invest in improving the governance aspects and institutional arrangement as well as standalone projects. It is hoped that this research will improve the capacity of those seeking to ensure climate finance in the Maldives is spent well by laying bare the lines of accountability