The shared urgency of addressing climate change took an historic step forward the 25th October 2019, with 27 countries pledging to replenish the Green Climate Fund (GCF) by USD 9.78 billion equivalent for the next four years
The amount pledged exceeds the USD 9.3 billion
announced at the Fund’s previous pledging conference in 2014, even though some
of those contributors have yet to pledge. Three-quarters of the countries
increased their pledges in national currency. Nearly half of them doubled or
more than doubled their pledges. This is a seventy percent increase in our
programming resources on an annual basis. The United Kingdom, France, Germany,
Japan and Sweden are the top contributors. The Fund will continue receiving contributions
in the coming four years.
The pledges demonstrate strong and continued
confidence in the Fund’s unique ability to promote a paradigm shift towards
low-emission, climate-resilient development. In particular, these commitments
will enhance the Fund’s ability to support developing countries to design and
deliver ambitious climate action plans. By 2020, governments are expected to
submit updated plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs),
which are key to the Paris Agreement.
Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of the Economy and
Finance said: “As a world leader in the fight to combat climate change, France
is proud to host the Green Climate Fund’s first replenishment conference. A
well-resourced Fund is a prerequisite for translating the 2015 Paris Agreement
goals into concrete actions and helping developing countries to make their
economies greener and more resilient.”
“I appeal to all participants to provide significant
resources during this conference," said United Nations Secretary-General
António Guterres in a video statement to the participants. “Developing nations,
particularly those on the front lines of climate change, need your
contributions. Some 100 countries are already benefitting. An ambitious
replenishment will enable the Fund to continue to promote adaptation,
resilience and carbon-neutral development in developing countries.”
“We are honoured by the global community’s confidence
in the Fund’s ability to support countries and communities to raise and realise
their climate ambitions,” said Yannick Glemarec, Executive Director of the
Green Climate Fund. “The coming years are critical as we empower our partners
to innovate, accelerate and scale up climate investments that match the pace
and urgency of the climate crisis.”
“The fight to combat climate change needs to respond
to the legitimate expectations expressed by citizens from around the world.
Mobilising finance to expand renewable energy in developing countries is
essential to face the climate crisis, especially for the benefit of the most
vulnerable. That is why France welcomes the international community’s
commitment to increase contributions to the Green Climate Fund,” said Brune
Poirson, French Secretary of State to the Minister for the Ecological and
Solidary Transition.
Investments supported by the Green Climate Fund are
already transforming lives in 99 developing countries across the planet,
including by:
closing the
energy gap for the power deficient in Rwanda and Kenya;
helping
Mongolians transition to renewables and reduce dangerous air pollution;
building the
resilience of water supplies in Barbados; and
improving
the climate resilience of Berber women in Morocco through sustainable farming
practices that also boost local livelihoods.
To achieve maximum impact, the Green Climate Fund’s
public investment boosts the climate action capacities of developing countries
and helps unlock private sector markets of low-emission, climate-resilient
innovation. Every USD 1 billion invested in the Fund spurs nearly USD 3 billion
in additional financing, including from recipient countries.
The success of the replenishment is expected to
bolster global climate cooperation, including at the international meeting of
the Conference of Parties in Chile (COP25) on 2-13 December 2019 and at COP26,
to be co-hosted by the United Kingdom and Italy in Glasgow on 9-19 November
2020.
On 24 October, alongside the Green Climate Fund’s
pledging conference, the One Planet Event gathered a unique set of partners,
both from the public and the private sectors, seeking to scale-up ambition
through innovative instruments in order to strengthen international action for
climate change. Public financial institutions, including local financial
institutions and commercial banks, play a decisive role in unlocking climate
finance for developing countries.
Background
The 194 country parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established GCF in 2010 to
direct climate finance to developing countries. The Paris Agreement of 2015
confirmed Green Climate Fund’s central role in coalescing global action that
keeps global temperature rises well below 2 degrees Celsius and enhances
countries’ resilience to climate change. The Green Climate Fund is helping
create paradigm shifts in climate action by utilising public and private funds,
while aiming at providing equal support to mitigation and adaptation.
The following countries pledged contributions to the
Green Climate Fund’s first replenishment:
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Korea,
Republic of
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Monaco
Netherlands
New
Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United
Kingdom
Slovenia is a new first-time contributor to the
Green Climate Fund in 2019.
Countries that pledged to increase their
contribution (in domestic currency) from the Fund’s initial resource
mobilization, but do not intend to double or more than double their
contribution.
Countries that pledged to at least double their
contribution (in domestic currency) from the Fund’s initial resource
mobilization.
Cassien Tribunal Aungae, Editor
Cassien Tribunal Aungae, Editor
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