What
The International Climate Initiative (IKI) is a crucial element of the German Government’s contribution to the international financing of climate action and biodiversity conservation. IKI has been supporting partner countries since 2008 with implementing the international agreements on climate protection and biodiversity conservation, while linking both issues with each other.

Goal
The IKI finances projects run by organizations that implement measures together with developing, emerging, and transitional countries within the four IKI funding 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+).

• Conserving biological diversity.

Recent activities
Support for approaches in developing and emerging countries to implement and ambitiously develop the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) anchored in the Paris Agreement and for achieving the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

From 2008 to the end of 2021, more than 300 biodiversity-related projects with a total funding volume of about 1.5 billion euros were approved. On average over the past years 28% of the overall IKI funding is biodiversity relevant.

Benefits
The expected outcomes of the IKI are contributions to the global implementation of climate action and biodiversity conservation.

Lessons learned
Many IKI projects normally involve more than one funding area. Since 2011, the conservation of biodiversity has been a separate funding area within the IKI. Biodiversity is more vital in other funding areas than just as a cross-cutting issue, and this is reflected in many of the projects in these areas, which are also contributing to conservation efforts.

Relevant links and resources
https://www.international-climate-initiative.com/en/