RIYADH: Accelerated global financial cooperation is critical to enable low emissions and a just overall climate transition, according to the Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, Hoesung Lee.
Speaking at the UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP27, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Lee stressed that IPCC reports presented in February and April of this year clearly indicate that the world has access to the technology and know-how that could help tackle the issue of climate change.
However, he said those options and tools are still limited primarily by the current availability of financing among other reasons.
“With increasing global warming, losses and damages will increase and additional humans and natural systems will be pushed to adaptation limits,” Lee stressed.
Widening discrepancies between the cost of adaptation and the financing available are the main reasons for adaptation gaps especially in developing countries, he added.
Lee noted that the prerequisite to adequate adaptation will come as the world continues its efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius through immediate cuts in the emission of greenhouse gasses.
When compared to the goals and objectives of the Paris agreement – an international treaty on climate change – the progress of financial flows is relatively low, he said.
“Since the Paris agreement, many countries have put in place climate policies and regulations, but their scope needs to be expanded, their ambition raised, and implemented,” the chair disclosed.
Thus, by prioritizing finances to reduce climate risks for low income and marginalized communities, Lee said that great gains in terms of well-being can be achieved.
