Who finances election campaigns? And WHY?

As voters in Chile prepared to head to the polls last Sunday, and those in the Netherlands reflect on their recent election, both have at least some insight into who is financing the campaigns seeking their support – and the business or foreign interests that may stand behind them.

Unfortunately, in most countries, voters are left in the dark about who finances election campaigns.

A new research released last week, shows that of 117 countries reviewed across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 70 per cent have no system for publishing political finance information online.

The global research is equally troubling: in 109 of 157 countries, citizens go to the polls without the same opportunity Chileans and the Dutch have – to know who funds the campaigns vying for their votes. Only 7 countries in Asia and the Pacific, 13 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 28 in Europe, and 1 in Africa make such information publicly available online. Obviously, the Philippines is not doing that.

Where political money flows unseen, democracy ultimately suffers. Hidden donors tilt elections, buy influence and corrode public trust.

Yet, that research also reveals the picture isn’t uniformly bleak. Some governments are proving that transparency is achievable even with modest means – from South Africa’s searchable donation portal to Costa Rica’s open dataset of nearly 100,000 political donations dating back to 2006. Without shared standards and international pressure, however, these isolated advances will remain exceptions rather than the rule.

Fortunately, there is an upcoming opportunity to turn scattered progress into global momentum.

Next month, 15-19 December, governments that have ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) – the world’s only universal anti-corruption treaty – will meet in Doha for its 11th Conference of the States Parties. For the first time in 22 years, they will consider a dedicated resolution on transparency in political finance, an initiative led by Norway, Albania, Ghana and Mongolia.

This is a crucial opportunity to renew a global commitment to ensure voters everywhere can see who funds those seeking to represent them. In an era of dark money and disinformation, it is a once-in-a-generation chance to bring sunlight to the machinery of democracy.

Before that debate begins in Doha, another global stage will test the resolve of governments to uphold integrity.

Last week, the world gathered in Belém, Brazil, for the 30th United Nations Climate Conference (COP30) – a critical moment in the fight against the climate crisis. Yet past COPs, including last year’s, have seen fossil fuel interests deeply embedded in negotiations:  more than 1,700 lobbyists attended last year, with hundreds accredited as official delegates. Such influence undermines ambition and erodes public trust.

Transparency International is calling on governments, the UNFCCC Secretariat, and the COP30 Presidency to adopt binding disclosure and conflict-of-interest rules, exclude fossil fuel representatives from national delegations, and protect civil society participation. Integrity, public oversight and accountability must guide climate diplomacy if COP30 is to deliver meaningful action.

As host, Brazil had a unique opportunity to set a new global standard – ensuring climate decisions serve the public interest, not polluters. Yet its recent approval of oil drilling in the Amazon is a stark warning that this opportunity could instead become a blueprint for backtracking – exactly what the world cannot afford if it hopes for real progress on climate.

The same forces that buy politicians’ loyalty bankroll delay on climate – and they thrive in the shadows. The fight for clean elections and the fight for a livable planet are part of the same struggle: to make power transparent, accountable and answerable to the public it serves.

In conclusion, where political money flows unseen, democracy suffers. Hidden donors tilt elections, buy influence and corrode public trust. Let’s this be changed  in the Philippines also!

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