Since 2008, the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) has been financing climate and biodiversity projects in developing and newly industrializing countries, as well as in countries in transition. Based on a decision taken by the German parliament (Bundestag), a sum of at least 120 million euros is available for use by the initiative annually. For the first few years, the IKI was financed through the auctioning of emission allowances, but it is now funded from the budget of the BMU. The IKI is a key element of Germany’s climate financing and the funding commitments in the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Initiative places a clear emphasis on climate change mitigation, adaption to the impacts of climate change, and the protection of biological diversity. These efforts provide various co-benefits, particularly the improvement of living conditions in partner countries.

The IKI focuses on four areas: mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to the impacts of climate change, conserving natural carbon sinks with a focus on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), as well as conserving biological diversity.

The IKI is structured along with two different selection procedures: a) the country-specific and b) the thematic selection procedure. Whereas the thematic selection procedure takes place once a year, there are several country-specific procedures per year. The programs are selected via a two-stage procedure. In the first stage, coherent program outlines need to be submitted based on the corresponding funding information. If program outlines are promising, BMU will ask for the submission of a formal program proposal to be elaborated within the following six months. After an in-depth evaluation of the proposal, a final decision on the funding is made.

Priority is given to activities that support creating an international climate protection architecture, transparency, and innovative and transferable solutions that have an impact beyond the individual project. The IKI cooperates closely with partner countries and supports consensus building for a comprehensive international climate agreement and the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Moreover, it is the goal of the IKI to create as many synergies as possible between climate protection and biodiversity conservation.