Cash For Climate: Copenhagen Green Climate Fund Update
This post was written by Jennifer Smokelin.
Debate still rages as to the significance of the Copenhagen Accord, the non-binding agreement noted by the UNFCCC at the end of the COP in Copenhagen in December. Many leaders of the process, including outgoing U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer, have downplayed the chance of the Accord folding into a binding deal in Cancún, saying such an agreement will be unlikely until late 2011. But U.S. deputy climate envoy Jonathan Pershing defended the Accord recently in Bonn, where negotiators met this past weekend to begin setting the table for this year's COP in Cancún, Mexico, in November.
Climate adaptation financing is one of the most direct impacts of the Accord. Under Paragraphs 8 and 9 of the Accord, wealthy countries have committed to sending $100 billion a year by 2020 in climate funds to at-risk nations. How those funds will be raised and governed remains an open question. A high-level advisory group to mobilize the climate change financing was assigned by United Nation Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Its mission is to mobilize financial resources through the development of practical proposals to significantly scale up both short and long-term financing for mitigation and adaptation strategies in developing countries. The Accord states in Paragraphs 8 and 9 that financial support is to be given to developing countries to help them combat climate change between 2010 and 2020, with “priority” to be given to the “most vulnerable developing countries” such as the least developed countries, small island developing states, and Africa. Funding will be secured from various sources including governments, the private sector, bilateral and international institutions. The group will also investigate how to jump-start the mobilization of new and innovative resources from both the public and private sector.
The high-level panel led by Prime Ministers Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia and Gordon Brown of Britain met in London on March 31 to begin considering the question. After the meeting, Prime Minister Zenawi said the Advisory Group had identified various financial sources to help developing countries combat climate change and set directives for further activities. He added that the meeting had set up three committees to assess the stated alternatives and pass recommendations. The first committee will assess governmental financial sources, the second will evaluate private financial sources and the third committee will undertake administrative work.
The Advisory Group is expected to submit its final report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon before the COP in Mexico later this year. The preparation of the final report is expected to be a transparent process and allow for comments and suggestions by governments as well as guidance for further work that the Advisory Group may need to undertake. The Advisory Group also will provide periodic briefings to UNFCCC parties, including at the May/June meetings of the UNFCCC.
