Climate Public Expenditure: Notes for the Convergence of Budget Classification and Marking Systems

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have made significant progress in estimating public climate spending. However, there are significant challenges to harmonizing the systems used to identify and estimate climate spending at the regional level. In the absence of an internationally accepted standard, countries in the region have employed diverse methodological approaches, with varying scopes, institutional coverage, and publication frequencies. This study describes the advantages and limitations of existing systems and proposes a set of common classification principles to provide countries with standardized, internationally comparable information. In this regard, an analysis of the methodologies used in the region indicates that the expanded COFOG, developed by the IDB, provides a useful reference to guide the modernization of the instruments currently in use, and one that countries can align with. The publication is led by the member countries of the Regional Climate Change Platform of Ministries of Economy and Finance (MEF Climate Change Platform).