Climate Change Public Budget Tagging: Connections across Financial and Environmental Classification Systems
Peer Reviewed
Date issued
Jan 2021
Subject
Climate Change;
Environmental Protection;
Public Expenditure;
Government Budget;
Climate Finance;
Climate Expenditure;
Climate Policy
JEL code
O54 - Latin America • Caribbean;
Q54 - Climate • Natural Disasters and Their Management • Global Warming;
H60 - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt: General;
H00 - Public Economics: General: General;
H50 - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: General;
C80 - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology • Computer Programs: General;
E01 - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth • Environmental Accounts
Category
Discussion Papers
Identifying and evaluating climate expenditures in the public sector, known as budget tagging, has generated increasing attention from multiple stakeholders, not only to assess the governments climate change policy, but also to monitor fiscal risks associated with increasing and unpredictable climate change impacts. This paper explores the issues raised by climate change budget tagging in the context of a broader discussion on the connections with fiscal and environmental statistical classification systems. It argues that, for climate change budget tagging efforts to be successful, the definitions and classifications of climate change expenditures must be consistent with statistical standards currently in use, such as the Government Finance Statistics Framework and the System of National Accounts.
