Spotlight: Climate Finance
Climate finance refers to dedicating public and/or private financial resources to support climate change mitigation (which aims to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions), or adaptation (which helps build resiliency in the face of climate change). Climate finance can come from public sources, such as government or national and multilateral development banks, or from a growing array of private institutional investors and public-private institutions. Internationally, climate finance is one way to recognize that less-developed countries are often more vulnerable to climate change for which they are relatively less responsible and yet have fewer resources to address. Climate finance also refers to funding mechanisms to support the energy transition to net-zero emissions, such as clean technology development and related infrastructure. The 2015 Paris Agreement calls for developed country governments to commit to increasing climate finance commitments (currently USD $100 billion/year) at specified intervals, such as this year. Therefore, negotiating a “New Collective Quantified Goal” on Climate Finance is a major focus of the 2024 UN climate conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan.
Statement from the COP29 Presidency
Throughout the year, the COP29 Presidency has been pushing for a fair and ambitious new climate finance goal, taking into account the needs...
The Bahamas will refinance part of its debt to protect its famous turquoise waters
It is the fifth such debt-for-nature swap in the world.
UK pledges £239m to forest-rich nations to fight climate change at Cop29
It comes as part of the UK’s commitment to deliver £11.6 billion in carbon finance by 2026.
UN climate summit set to go into overtime as talks stall over finance deal
Negotiators have been adrift in the last 24 hours, unable to soften their red lines or hammer out a landing ground.
Indigenous leaders travel to UK from Peru to draw attention to oil damage and banking
In the last decade, there were 89 leaks from the Petroperu pipeline running through the Amazon Rainforest.
COP29 climate summit overruns as $250 billion draft deal stalls
COP29 climate talks extend past deadline as nations clash over a $250B annual funding plan, with developing countries demanding more.
Countries at UN climate summit under pressure with no finance deal entering final day
Countries at the United Nations climate summit entered the last scheduled day of talks with no visible progress on their chief goals.
Global climate funds set for first annual outflows, Morningstar says
For the first time, global climate funds face net withdrawals, with $24B pulled in 2024 amid poor returns, greenwashing, and anti-ESG sentiment.
Fears rise of gender setbacks in global climate battle
COP29 faces backlash on gender, with key language stripped from drafts, sparking concern over setbacks in women’s role in climate action.
Crunch time: What still needs to be hammered out at COP29?
COP29 debates how developed nations will fund $1 trillion yearly for developing countries by 2030, including grants vs. loans and fairness.
