Australia works closely with international partners to address the impacts of climate change and supports full, equal, and diverse participation and leadership in international climate processes. We continue to recognise the unique contributions of Indigenous Peoples, women and girls, persons with disabilities, and youth in climate change action.

Australia continues to work with Pacific island countries in bidding to host COP31 in 2026 to accelerate global climate action and to bring profile to the climate impacts in our region.

We work with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to negotiate and meet Australia’s obligations under the Paris Agreement.

Contents

• The Paris Agreement
• Nationally Determined Contributions
• Climate finance
• Blended finance
• Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP)
• Action on the ocean
• Our Programs in Action
• Global Environment Facility (GEF)
• Green Climate Fund (GCF)

The Paris Agreement

Australia is party to the Paris Agreement which came into force in 2016.

The Paris Agreement aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by:

• holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels
• pursuing efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5°C.

Other international treaties include the:

• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• Kyoto Protocol

Nationally Determined Contributions

Under the Paris Agreement, Australia must submit emissions reduction commitments known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Australia submitted its first NDC to the UNFCCC in 2015. We submitted an updated version in 2022, which commits Australia to reducing its emissions to 43% below 2005 levels by 2030.

Australia will submit its second NDC to the UNFCCC in 2025.

• See Australia's NDC on the UNFCCC registry.
• Read about Australia's domestic actions for climate change.

Climate finance

Australia's climate finance is focused on the Pacific and Southeast Asia. It is delivered through bilateral and regional programs, blended finance instruments, and contributions to multilateral development banks' climate programming and multilateral climate funds like the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund.

Australia is investing in climate and clean energy infrastructure to support partners in our region to build climate resilience and transition to net zero. Key initiatives include:

• at least $350 million in climate resilient infrastructure through the Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership
• $75 million equity investment in Singapore's Financing Asia's Transition partnership to support the clean energy transition
• $200 million for the Australia-Indonesia Climate and Infrastructure Partnership
• USD200 million guarantee for the Asian Development Bank's Innovative Financing Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific
• $221.9 million for the Climate Resilient Communities Facility
• $50 million for the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage
• $100 million in foundational funding for the Pacific Resilience Facility
• $80 million for the Global Environment Facility
• $50 million for the Green Climate Fund.

Blended finance

Australia's portfolio of blended finance mechanisms is mobilising private finance to boost climate action in the Indo-Pacific. Blended finance is the use of catalytic capital from public or philanthropic sources to increase private sector investment in sustainable development. Key blended finance initiatives include:

• Australian Development Investments (ADI), a $250 million fund of funds that invests in small and medium enterprises delivering climate and gender equality outcomes. ADI includes a Climate Catalyst Window, a $126 million initiative to de-risk climate solutions in Southeast and South Asia, and the Pacific.
• Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), supporting a multilateral  infrastructure developer to deliver sustainable projects that reduce emissions and build climate resilience in the Indo-Pacific.
• Australian Climate Finance Partnership (ACFP), a concessional finance facility supporting high-impact climate projects in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. ACFP is managed by the Asian Development Bank and funded by the Australian Government.
• Business Partnerships Platform, supporting partnerships with sustainable businesses, NGOs and academic institutions to collaborate on issues such as investing in off-grid renewable energy in the Pacific and accelerating women-led adaptation enterprises.
• Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership, delivering climate-related infrastructure, including REnew Pacific, a $75 million program to deliver small scale, off-grid energy infrastructure in remote communities.

Clean Energy Transition Partnership

On 5 December 2023 at COP28, the Australian Government joined the Statement on International Public Support for the Clean Energy Transition (known as the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP), as announced in a joint media release by Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Hon Chris Bowen MP, and then Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Senator the Hon Jenny McAllister.

This commitment will end direct support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector, except in limited and clearly defined circumstances.

The Australian Government published Implementation Guidelines in December 2024 to assist departments and agencies comply with our CETP commitments.

Action on the ocean

Australia's international engagement on the ocean is led by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water.

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

In September 2023 Australia signed the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (‘BBNJ') under UNCLOS.

Australia co-facilitated with Cabo Verde the political declaration for the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in 2025, Australia is also co-chairing with Belize the Preparatory Commission for the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty, and championing the development of sustainable ocean plans and the International Blue Carbon Partnership.

Our Programs in Action

We are committed to working with the Pacific to use the rules-based system to drive the changes we want to see in our region. The Australian Government is engaged in international efforts on the ocean to support our Pacific partners and protect our vast marine environment. Some examples include:

• joining the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy
• developing a Sustainable Ocean Plan to protect 30 per cent of the world's coastal and marine areas by 2030
• signing up to the ‘Blue NDC Challenge’ to integrate ocean-based climate solutions into our national plans
• co-leading, with Chile, the 100% Alliance for Sustainable Ocean Management
• creating Australia's Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund to support blue carbon restoration and conservation project developments in countries outside Australia and to catalyse for private sector investment
• partnering with regional neighbours on coastal blue carbon protection and restoration by
  • funding Indian Ocean Rim Association Blue Carbon Hub programs ($1 million)
  • supporting the Pacific Blue Carbon Program ($6.3 million)
• Being a founding member of the International Coral Reef Initiative, which supports the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and is the Commonwealth Blue Charter Champion for Coral Reef Protection and Restoration Action Group
• supporting the ReefCloud open-access platform in the Pacific and beyond, which uses innovative technology and Artificial Intelligence to support coral reef management.

Global Environment Facility

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) supports vulnerable countries to address environmental challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, and is one of four key vertical climate funds. The GEF and the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, that was established under the GEF in 2023 finance country-driven initiatives that generate global environmental benefits and support countries to meet their international obligations. The GEF supports the following international conventions and agreements:

• Convention on Biological Diversity
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Minamata Convention on Mercury
• Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
• Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement.

Over the past three decades, the GEF has provided over USD26 billion in financing, primarily as grants, and mobilized another USD153 billion for country-driven priority projects. Of this, GEF support for small island developing states (SIDS) includes USD2.3 billion in direct national and regional financing, along with an additional USD12.2 billion in co-financing.

In 2025, a comprehensive Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN) assessment was conducted of the GEF (Australia and Sweden were the institutional leads). The review findings included that:

• The GEF has been at the forefront of promoting collaboration across multilateral agencies in the environment and environmental crisis based on comparative advantages.
• The GEF's policies, processes and systems increasingly reflect good practice and standards.
• The GEF is mobilising co-financing increasingly, but ambitious steps are required to deliver on its potential.

The GEF has been progressing a range of key reforms to improve access to finance, including simplified approval processes, risk appetite and private sector engagement along with harmonisation and complementarity with other global funds.

Australia is a member of the GEF Council and is GEF Co-Chair in 2025. Australia's priorities include:

• Improving access to financing for SIDS and least developed countries (LDCs), particularly in the Pacific.
• Strengthening GEF governance, including streamlining policies and procedures that fosters harmonisation between other multilateral climate funds.
• Advocating for sustainable programming which advances gender equality, engages Indigenous knowledge, and promotes youth engagement.

Australia has committed $80 million to the GEF-8 replenishment (2022-26) and is considering our contribution to the ninth replenishment (GEF-9, 2026-30).

Green Climate Fund

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) – the world's largest dedicated climate fund – supports developing countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and enhance their ability to adapt to climate change.

On 8 December 2023, Australia re-joined the GCF with a contribution of AUD50 million to the current second GCF replenishment (2024 - 2027). Australia is alternate board member for the 2025-27 term in a constituency with Norway (Board Member), Iceland and the Czech Republic, and is currently Chair of the Investment Committee (through which Australia advocates for increased private sector finance).

Australia supports the GCF's reform agenda, which includes improving access to climate finance for those countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, particularly SIDS and LDCs, including those in the Pacific. Other GCF reform priorities include:

• Regional presence: establish regional offices across the four regions: Latin America and the Caribbean; Africa; Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East; Asia and the Pacific.
• Readiness: A USD500m Readiness Program 2024-27 to build capacity and direct access of national and regional partners.
• Access: revised Partnerships and Access approach, including reformed accreditation process and a strategic target to double the number of Direct Access Entities.
• Approvals: simplified and expedited project submission and approval processes with the whole cycle taking no more than nine months.

Over the course of 2025 the broader reforms have seen a marked increase in Pacific project approvals, as reflected in the chart below.