The IKI in 2021: facts & figures

Reflecting on 2021, the International Climate Initiative (IKI) was once again able to achieve its ambitious goals in the second year of the pandemic.

Following the significant restrictions experienced in 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the IKI, along with the projects it funds, also faced major challenges in 2021. While the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic continued to be felt, IKI nonetheless almost fully disbursed its allocated budget of 596 million euros. The actual expenditure in 2021 for a total of 400 new and ongoing projects was around 573 million euros. 539 million euros were pledged in 2021 for funding and planned expenditure in the following years. This sum also includes payments made into the International Climate and Biodiversity Fund as well as commitments for the IKI Medium Grants managed by Zukunft – Umwelt – Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbh, the IKI Small Grants managed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the NAMA Facility (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions).

IKI budget 2008 to 2021

Graphic IKI budget 2008-2021 — Source: BMWK

Commitments were spread across the following areas (rounding differences possible):

281 million euros for ‘Mitigation of greenhouse gases’
92 million euros for ‘Adapting to the impacts of climate change’
40 million euros for ‘Preserving and restoring natural carbon sinks with a focus on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+)’
89 million euros for ‘Conservation of biological diversity’
37 million euros for ‘Support activities and project sponsor costs’

It should also be noted that all IKI funds are assigned solely to German finance commitments for greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation to the impacts of climate change. Funding activities from the two corresponding IKI areas are each offset at 100 %. The other funding areas are split between the two commitment categories.

Funding commitments 2021 by region

Thematic and country-specific ideas competitions: two new calls and almost 1,000 project outlines

As part of the thematic selection procedures, two new ideas competitions were offered in 2021 within the IKI Small Grants and IKI Medium Grants programmes. In IKI Medium Grants (funding volume of up to 800,000 euros), project outlines were sought on the topics of ‘COVID-19 and adapting to the impacts of climate change – promoting resilience in local populations and communities’ and ‘Developing, supporting and strengthening participatory processes and methods of ambitious, inclusive climate action’.

Of the project outlines submitted, nine were asked to submit a project proposal, which will be used as a basis to select the projects that will recieve funding. In IKI Small Grants (funding volume of up to 200,000 euros), the ideas competition started in December 2021 (with a submission deadline of February 2022) and covered the entire spectrum of topics for IKI funding areas. Since 2021, additional information about the IKI Small Grants has been provided on a dedicated website. Alongside the new ideas competitions, further progress was also made in selection procedures that were still ongoing.

In 2021, four calls were completed with a total of 999 project outlines recieved. As of 2021, 52 projects are in preparation and 36 projects have been started from the calls completed from 2018 to 2020. Six national and regional institutions are also being funded in the IKI Small Grants ‘Funding institutions’ funding component with the aim of implementing separate ideas competitions for local projects.

In addition to the selection procedures, the IKI is also promoting action on climate change and biodiversity conservation through other means, such as payments to various funds. All in all, funding was used to support a total of 133 projects in 2021, which were either new projects or projects receiving top-up funding.

In recent years, funding priorities have ranged from climate-conscious, green finance and the digitalisation of the transport sector to sustainable consumption and insect conservation. The IKI has also been keen to prioritise green recovery as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

When selecting funding priorities, the IKI cooperates closely with its partner countries in advance. Accordingly, call topics and application numbers also serve as an indicator of the overall level of support needed around the world. The thematic selection procedure originally planned for November 2021 was postponed to ensure that funding priorities were precisely oriented towards the outcomes of international negotiations.

This means the IKI can target its support to meet the resulting requirements of partner countries, thus achieving more effective climate change action and biodiversity conservation. The next thematic call is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2022.

The IKI at COP26

The IKI and many of its projects were also represented at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. At a high level event titled ‘Alignment of NDCs and long-term strategies to reach net-zero targets’, the IKI brought together a number of partners to discuss perspectives on the consistent design of long-term strategies (LTS) and nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Representatives of the IKI’s implementing organisations were also able to attend the IKI World Café to discuss on key issues such as private sector participation, project upscaling and the IKI’s Gender Strategy. Overall, more than 100 IKI projects took part in events at the COP26 conference.

Persistent challenges from the coronavirus pandemic

Regrettably, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to hamper the work of many IKI projects in 2021. Depending on the degree to which regions were affected by the various waves of infection, protection against infection and health were and continue to be key points of focus. While digital event formats in particular have now become well established, the pandemic continues to cause difficulties for people and IKI projects. The IKI is therefore making every effort to identify and implement solutions to the various challenges facing its global partnerships.

New IKI Safeguards Policy

From the outset, the IKI has required its implementing organisations to observe environmental and social accountability standards, to avoid negative impacts on people and the environment to the greatest possible extent or to prevent them entirely. In 2021, the IKI developed its Safeguards Policy: a set of guiding principles and procedures aimed at upholding standards in IKI projects throughout the entire project lifecycle – from the funding application to project completion. This Safeguards Policy applies to all projects financed by IKI funding and took effect in 2022. Accordingly, a consultation on the planned policy was launched in December 2021, to provide an opportunity for dialogue with IKI stakeholders about proposed changes and feedback.

Independent IKI Complaint Mechanism

In 2020, the IKI began setting up an independent complaint mechanism with the aim of exposing and resolving potential negative social and ecological impacts as well as the misuse of funding and corruption on the part of IKI projects. The independent complaint mechanism within the IKI (IKI ICM) is modelled on the existing practice of other international accountability mechanisms, which are part of the Independent Accountability Mechanism Network. A consultation on the planned policy was held in October and November 2021. In the course of three online seminars, over 20 participants from all over the world offered ZUG and the BMU valuable feedback both verbally and in the form of written comments. The IKI ICM startet officially in 2022.