By Okeoghene Akubuike
The International Monetary Fund(IMF), COP28 President-Designate and UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance have called for measures needed to accelerate climate action and finance.
This is contained in a statement issued by the IMF Press Centre, a copy of which was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
The statement said Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF, and Dr Sultan Al Jaber, COP28 President-Designate, co-chaired a roundtable discussion on Tuesday to discuss actions needed to urgently accelerate climate action and finance.
Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and Co-Chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) also co-chaired the discussion hosted at the IMF.
It said participants at the roundtable included representatives from governments, international financial institutions, development banks, philanthropic organisations, and private financial institutions committed to net zero.
According to the statement, climate change is one of the most critical macroeconomic and financial policy challenges that IMF members face in the coming decades.
It said capital was among the most important enablers of climate action, but not enough was getting to the people and places that need it most.
“As massive global investments to reduce emissions and boost resilience are required, we need a major shift to harness public and, especially, private financing.
“That includes substantially more concessional finance that can lower risk and drive private sector finance more efficiently to emerging and developing countries.
“It also requires that both public and private sectors finance all components of the energy transition.
It said this included both the scaling of clean energy and the managed phaseout of fossil fuels on an accelerated time frame.
The statement said to achieve the above objective, all countries need robust climate policies that accelerate the green transition, and stronger mechanisms to promote cooperation and risk-sharing among stakeholders.
“For example, improved policy, regulatory, technological and information frameworks and financial toolkits could support private capital mobilisation, and broaden the investor base, especially in emerging and developing economies.”
It said participants identified areas of work within their respective mandates to be accelerated on the road to COP28, including making the investment environment more conducive to climate finance.
The statement said other areas included identifying specific obstacles that impede private sector climate finance and using innovative financing instruments to scale up private investment in emerging and developing economies.
“Others are proposing reforms to help strengthen countries’ macroeconomic and balance of payments stability by reducing risks associated with climate change.”
It said the participants agreed to continue to collaborate between now and COP28 in Dubai and beyond to define and implement specific measures toward shared goals.
“By working together, we can help scale up climate finance so the trillions of dollars that are needed become available as fast as possible.
“We must find pathways to accelerate the partnership between public and private finance to meet climate goals.”
The IMF Managing Director was quoted as saying, “the impacts of global warming are already destroying lives and livelihoods.
“So we need a step change in our financing approach to redirect trillions of dollars towards meeting the climate challenge.
“To get there, stronger cooperation and partnerships across the public and private sectors are vital, there is no time to waste,” Georgieva said.
Carney was quoted as saying, “to ensure that the impact of the net-zero revolution underway in private finance benefits all countries, we need a more efficient and effective multilateral financial architecture.
The COP28 president-designate was quoted as saying: “Capital and finance are among the most important enablers of climate action and sustainable economic development.
“However, not enough is getting to the people and places that need it most. ”
He said for vulnerable communities, across the global south, climate finance was nowhere near available, affordable, or accessible enough.
“Only 20 per cent of cleantech investment is going to developing countries that make up over 70 per cent of the global population.”
Al Jaber said the least developed countries received less than 2 cents on every dollar spent.
“Behind every number, there are individual lives, people and communities who should have the right to fulfill their potential and contribute to sustainable global prosperity.”
He said the world needed to triple the amount of money by 2030 that is available for cleantech investment, adaptation finance, and a just energy transition in emerging and developing countries.
Al Jaber said there was need to urgently consider fundamental reform to achieve both climate and development goals. (NAN)
