RIYADH: As climate change increasingly adds to the strains on national finances and economies worldwide, it is essential that international climate financing be significantly enhanced, a leading UN expert on the subject said on Thursday.
Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, added that increased access to affordable and reliable funding on a large scale is crucial for efforts to mitigate climate risks, encourage action and foster sustainable economic growth.
His comments came during a discussion about climate finance at a virtual event hosted by Brookings Institution’s Global Economy and Development program, as he highlighted opportunities to achieve meaningful progress in efforts to combat climate change and advance global development.
Highlighting the finance goals and plans he believes must be delivered next month at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 29, in Azerbaijan, he said: “In the past decade, we have seen some real progress. Over a trillion dollars were invested in climate action last year, globally, up from a few hundred billion a decade ago.”
In 2022, developed countries provided more than $100 billion in climate financing to developing nations, Stiell said. However, even developed countries can struggle to properly address the effects of climate change, which are causing hundreds of billions of dollars of damage in rich and poor nations alike, he added.
“Under Brazil’s G20 leadership (this year), climate and finance ministers have finally been brought together,” Stiell said. “This essential collaboration must continue and be translated into clear outcomes.”
Discussions about financing for efforts to tackle climate change are critical to ensure all countries, in particular developing nations, small islands and the least-developed countries, receive the support they need to help reduce the effects of the environmental crisis and reduce emissions, he added.
“At COP 29 in Baku, all governments must agree to a new goal for international climate finance that truly responds to the needs of developing countries,” Stiell said.
“COP 29 must be the ‘stand-and-deliver’ COP, recognizing that climate finance is core business to save the global economy, and billions of lives and livelihoods, from rampaging climate impacts.”
This echoed a comment he posted on social media network X last week, in which he wrote: “The upcoming COP29 climate conference must be an enabling COP: Delivering concrete outcomes to start translating the climate pledges made by countries in last year’s COP28 UAE Consensus into real-world, real-economy results. It’s time to get the job done.”
The conference next month offers important opportunities to enhance climate financing, establish new global delivery objectives, and generate some much-needed momentum for existing commitments, Stiell said on Thursday.
“Ambitious outcomes at the annual meetings are vital to enable bolder climate actions that boost economies and strengthen societies everywhere,” he added.
