That autonomy came with a matching financial responsibility: local governments now had to fund far more of their own budgets. Ecological fiscal transfers: An innovative finance toolOne mechanism gaining traction closes part of that gap: the ecological fiscal transfer — or EFT. What EFTs can do for climate finance and conservationThe case for EFTs as climate finance rests on a few things they do well. That flexibility can divert conservation revenue to other priorities. In Indonesia, BIJAK proposed water quality, air quality, forest cover, and forest-management indicators.