This briefing paper by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is aimed at delegates of the 2011United Nations climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa. It makes clear the responsibilities imparted by previous climate change negotiations and, as the scaling-up period of 2013-2019 approaches, the danger of the widening chasm between word and deed thus far witnessed. The briefing lays out the contrast between five finance promises of previous agreements and the consequential reality.

Adequate funding: this has not been adequate, predictable or clearly new and additional.
Fair burden sharing: there has been no agreement on burden sharing, with no transparent and consistent allocation formula.
Balance between mitigation and adaptation: although improving, the share of fast track climate finance assigned to adaptation remains low.
Needs-based targeting: with no agreed protocol, formulas risk inequitable distribution with inadequate prioritisation of the poor.
Transparent, recipient-driven governance: neither transparent nor recipient-driven, problems include inconsistent reporting, severe underfunding of National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA) and a lack of sensitivity toward the needs of women and marginalised groups.

Three essential steps are identified for Durban delegates to make progress towards effective adaptation funding that corrects these promissory shortfalls.

With national treasuries unlikely to match the necessary funds for scaling-up, Durban negotiators should develop a series of international, constant and substantial funding mechanisms. This could incorporate small levies on, for example, international airline travel and international financial transactions, and should provide predictable, grant-based revenue streams for adaptation activities.
Defined targets for each year of the scaling-up period are necessary to maintain goodwill and ensure developed nations maintain commitments through to 2020.
Transparency and central accounting is crucial, requiring a central framework and registry. Ambiguities must be addressed, with a global definition of new and additional.