Readiness to access climate finance in Chad

In 2021, Chad ranked 185th (out of 185 countries) on the ND Gain Index, which combines a country’s vulnerability to climate change (and other global challenges) with its readiness to improve resilience. As drought becomes more frequent, Chad urgently needs finance to invest in adaptation and resilience measures.

Through desktop research on existing documents, stakeholder interviews, and information from meetings of the Accelerating Climate Finance working group led by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, this report assesses and identifies barriers and gaps that need to be addressed if Chad is to be ready for climate finance.

Limitations that add to the challenges of accessing climate finance:

• Chad's readiness to plan for, access, deliver, and monitor and report on climate finance remains weak despite improving its policy and institutional architecture to access to climate finance.
• Evidence on climate risks, on monitoring or reporting the effectiveness of climate actions taken to date, is limited. 
• Concrete, bankable mitigation and adaptation actions have not materialised, even though priorities were identified in the 2009 National Adaptation Programme of Action, the 2021 Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement, and 2022 National Adaptation Plan. 
• Little progress has been made to create effective and responsive capacity to mobilise, manage, disburse, implement and monitor climate finance. 
• Data and knowledge are also lacking: historical and subsequent data on climate phenomena are limited; socioeconomic data are partial; geospatial coverage is patchy; and capacity to manage data and knowledge is weak.

The nature and extent of the gaps in Chad’s readiness for climate finance mean that external efforts and new initiatives will only be marginally effective — climate finance cannot currently be delivered at the scale, speed and predictability that Chad needs. Addressing the readiness gaps will require commitment and willingness at the highest political level.