The principle of equity is articulated in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, yet its implementation face challenges. This report explores how a set of stakeholders perceive equity and justice in the current climate finance system. Stakeholders agree that the current climate finance system is an illustration of unfairness and inequity, and that equity and fairness cannot be achieved in the current climate finance system.

Stakeholders outline barriers to achieving equity and fairness, including the absence of benchmark and accountability, power play, and double standards. These barriers have resulted in both distrust and a settling for what is ‘fair and equitable enough’. In part, this is because equity in climate finance is connected to and affected by other agendas, norms, and governance systems external to the GST and UNFCCC mandates.

This report is the first of two and was done for the Finance Working Group (FWG) of the independent Global Stock Take (iGST) – an umbrella data and advocacy initiative seeking to bolster the official Global Stock Take process.