E3G

Amal-Lee Amin writes on climate finance for RTCC

By E3G Admin

Amal-Lee Amin, leader of E3G’s International Climate Finance Programme, has written an article for Responding to Climate Change (RTCC). Entitled “Ministers must put climate cash offers on the table in Doha” the article argues that governments must show a renewed political commitment towards climate finance at the COP18 talks which begin next week in Doha.

Amal-Lee also outlines recent developments in climate finance as well as which recommendations should be endorsed by Ministers in order to reach a legally-binding 2015 agreement.

Excerpts from the article are published below, and the full text can be found on RTCC’s website.

Ministers must put climate cash offers on the table in Doha

Ever since the Copenhagen “grand bargain” on climate finance the issue has featured prominently on the political agenda. Yet, on the eve of Doha, the role of climate finance in building trust and instilling confidence seems fragile.

As the 2009-2012 Fast Start Finance (FSF) period draws to an end, developing countries are asking what funds will be available from 2013 to support actions that they are progressing at the national level. Seyni Nafo of Mali, spokesperson for African Group, has said that in Doha they need more than “an indication that funding will not fall off a cliff“.

Whether motivated by the promise of climate finance or driven by the realisation of the need for and benefits of actions to tackle climate change, post-Copenhagen developing countries are coming forward with nationally defined strategies, policies and actions. Climate finance would help accelerate and scale-up these actions.

Last week at a meeting in Costa Rica, I was struck by the level of political leadership within the region for tackling climate change. Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru set out steps they are taking to strengthen national institutional arrangements and policies for scaling up low carbon investment. Decision-makers from the energy, transport, agriculture and crucially Finance and Planning Ministries, are now coming together around how to make most effective use of climate finance.

At the same time, countries that are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are also working to build their adaptive capacity to create the enabling environments for the implementation of adaptation plans and measures that will be required to increase the resilience of their future development.

So now that developing countries are investing in their institutions for scaling up climate finance at the national level, a question on everyone’s mind is how developed countries are faring in their commitment for increasing finance towards the 2020 goal for mobilising $100bn/year.

Keeping momentum in Qatar

Ministers that are in a position to make pledges in Doha should also commit to channelling these through the Green Climate Fund (GCF) once it becomes operational. The prospect of countries beyond those that have provided FSF to come forward with pledges of funding in Doha is a promising one.

All eyes are on Qatar the COP hosts, who could, perhaps jointly with the South Korea as hosts of the GCF and Mexico which delivered the agreement to the GCF in Cancun could rally others from within their regions to pledge climate finance for the less developed and particularly vulnerable countries.

Putting aside financial pledges, Doha must also maintain momentum towards a 2015 agreement on a new legally-binding outcome for all. Given the importance of climate finance in building trust amongst countries Ministers arriving in Doha must signal a renewed political commitment around finance in the as one element of an ambitious 2015 deal.

Let’s see if this proves to be the case.