From left: Wendel Trio of Climate Action Network-Europe, Celine Charveriat of Oxfam and Harjeet Singh of Action Aid during a press conference at Qatar National Convention Center yesterday.
DOHA: The UN Climate Change Secretariat, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, has launched the “Momentum for Change: Innovative Financing for Climate-friendly Investment” initiative to recognise and highlight creative financing models that enable adaptation and mitigation activities in developing countries.
The initiative will showcase “lighthouse activities” that use innovative financing to make a difference in meeting the climate change challenge on the ground. These activities – notably public-private partnerships in developing countries – can serve as models for governments, businesses and industry looking for climate-friendly investment vehicles.
“We are looking to highlight public-private partnerships that are underway and that are successfully putting together innovative financing solutions to address climate change. There is much creative thinking in many sectors that people can learn from and which opens the door to greater political and business ambition to tackle climate change,” said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres.
The initiative will also benefit from the World Economic Forum’s Green Growth Action Alliance, which includes more than 50 of the world’s largest energy companies, international financial institutions and development finance banks working to deliver greater investments into clean energy, transportation, agriculture and other green investments. “Catalysing investment at the scale and pace needed to address climate change is an urgent global priority. The World Economic Forum is addressing this challenge by engaging leaders from finance, government and society to define and demonstrate effective financial models,” explained Dominic Waughray, Senior Director, Head of Environmental Initiatives, World Economic Forum.
The launch of the initiative was attended by prominent finance leaders from both the public and private sector. Lord Nicholas Stern, Chairman of the Grantham Institute on Climate Change, said: “Investment is mostly in the private sector, much will be public, and some will be joint, so it is necessary to think of financing that applies to all those activities.”
“Greater public-private collaboration is required to find solutions and stimulate new markets to deliver on the mitigation and adaptation agenda. This is why we need increased and adequate public funds to finance low-carbon growth that will also attract significant private capital through partnerships,” said H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry of Qatar.
The first group of Momentum for Change: Innovative Financing for Climate-friendly Investment “lighthouse activities” will be showcased by the UN Climate Change Secretariat at COP19 in Poland next year.
The Peninsula
