The importance of the research lies in the fact that the concept “climate finance” has not been clearly defined. To reach unambiguity in understanding and interpretation of the term for all the stakeholders is very important. That is because of several reasons. Firstly, it will help determine the level of fulfillment by states the crucial purpose of sustainable development to urgently deal with climate change and its consequences which were decided by the General Assembly of UN in 2015 up to the year of 2030. Secondly, it helps people making investment decisions about the projects dealing with climate change consequences mitigation to feel more confidently. Thirdly, it influences the quality and efficiency of newly forming national ecological policy. The purposeof the article is to systemize the notion of climate finance basing on the principles of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that is used as the intergovernmental basis for coordinating global reacting to climate change.The article analyses different approaches to climate financing, fixed in UN Framework Convention on Climate Change documents, as well as the practice of climatically conditioned actions, discussed at a special session of UN on climate change and in current scientific research. It is concluded that adaptation of conceptual novelties in the sphere of climate finance in order to achieve sustainable development requires effective policy and instruments, which is difficult to achieve in the conditions of not clearly defined processes and phenonena.