 The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has stepped in to help overwhelmed developing countries calculate the cost of implementing measures not only to mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions but also to adapt to climate change.
"This is a reality check - we are trying to assist countries go about it in a realistic and practical way," said Yolando Velasco, head of UNFCCC's financial cooperation unit.
The assistance is being provided by way of the National Economic and Environmental Development Study (NEEDS) in nine pilot countries: Costa Rica, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines.
"Actually, when we announced the study only nine countries came forward – the offer was open to everyone," Velasco said.
 How it works
The study estimates the cost of implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation measures in the country; then national consultants, with the engagement of the ministries of finance and planning, identify policy and finance instruments available to support the identified measures.
"Countries implementing the NEEDS project may develop their own national financial strategies and frameworks to coordinate resources accessed nationally and from the financial mechanism of the convention [UNFCCC], and other bilateral and multilateral sources," said Velasco.
With the financing priorities worked out, the countries stand a better chance of accessing funds from the Convention, including the Adaptation Fund set up under UNFCCC auspices.
The Fund is expected to raise money from a levy of about two percent on credits generated by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), set up under the Kyoto Protocol, the global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
UNFCCC hopes to present findings of these studies at the Climate change summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, which will look at a new global agreement to come into effect after the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012.
 The UNFCCC has come up with a price tag of between US$ 49 billion and $171 billion per year globally for adaptation by 2030, based on investment and financial flows in five sectors: agriculture, forestry and fisheries, water supply, human health, coastal zones, and infrastructure.
"The UNFCCC assessment is perhaps the most rigorous one out there, as it breaks down the costs sectorally and examines the impact in detail," said Shardul Agrawala, principal economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the lead author of a new book that takes a critical look at all the studies on adaptation costs.
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