Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary’s Post

#COP29 will largely focus on a finance pledge. But the global climate community must go beyond pledges and produce credible plans to overcome barriers and produce significant investment in emerging and developing economies. To create credible plans, much greater focus needs to be placed on evaluating the scalability of proposed financing solutions and then working on additional strategies to fill the gaps needed to achieve both development and decarbonization targets. We posit that no matter what finance pledge is agreed on at COP29, world leaders and financiers will need to answer the following questions quickly:  1. Are current proposed solutions sufficient to achieve such conditions, and if not, what other options exist?   2. What development-compatible decarbonization pathways are most plausible for EMDEs?  3. How can investment be optimized to unlock growth along with decarbonization? 

Climate finance realities are threatening both development and climate goals. CATF's Kasparas Spokas and Lily Odarno, along with senior advisor, Kurt Waltzer, explore why a #COP29 finance pledge must produce credible plans to overcome barriers and produce significant investment in emerging and developing economies.   Much greater focus needs to be placed on evaluating the scalability of proposed solutions and then working on additional strategies to achieve both development and decarbonization targets. Given the likely limits of international concessional financing, we must place more attention on bottom-up actions that improve local investment conditions and foster wealth in domestic markets.   Doing so can enable climate action as part of development, not in spite of it.   Read more: https://lnkd.in/ePsGPE-v

💡 Finance took centre stage at Bonn climate meetings, with negotiations on the new global climate finance goal featuring heavily. The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) will likely be a defining issue at COP29 in Baku. While primarily a public finance commitment, a bolder, more ambitious approach to the NCQG can send strong signals to the international finance system. Our message going forward is that to be most effective, the delivery of finance must be considered on a case-by-case basis, with access remaining a key issue for investors. ⚖ The next set of Nationally Defined Contributions (NDCs) was also a recurring theme. Active engagement from the private sector will be key in pushing progress and ambition for national climate goals and climate finance commitments alike. Familiar arguments in global negotiations meant slow progress on finance discussions with no concrete agreements. Nonetheless, there was a willingness to find common ground ahead of the next round of talks, on areas including transparency. 📄 Read the full article from Arianna Griffa, Senior Policy Manager – Global: https://lnkd.in/g44-w9gG #NDCs #NCQG #COP29 #Bonn #ClimateChange

This is the year that a new #climatefinance target gets negotiated through the multilateral UN process. Discussions around this new target, known as the NCQG (New Collective Quantified Goal), are characterized by differing priorities for developed and developing countries. As we approach the first of the year's meetings on NCQG in Cartagena next month, read Sehr Raheja's comprehensive explainer on where we're at, and who wants what. "India is the only country that has put forth a figure in this round of submissions, $1 tn per year, to be considered the quantum of money that developed countries must provide to developing countries as part of the new goal. For this, India has suggested a timeframe of 10 years, with separate annual mobilisation targets for each five year period to be in line with the cycles of updating the Nationally Determined Contributions." CSE's Climate Change programme will be following the negotiations through the year - stay tuned for our updates and materials in this crucial year of climate finance. Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi

The clock is starting to run down here at COP29 in Baku, and negotiators still seem some way from an agreement on the crucial new global climate finance goal. A key question is how much public finance developed-nation governments feel able to promise without triggering a political backlash at home. Their calculations will look very different depending on whether they view this money as charity, or as an investment driven by cold-blooded economic self-interest. They should see it largely as the latter, argues a new economic paper from Patrick Bolton of Imperial College London and Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis of Cornell University, which is getting attention among delegates in Baku. If developed nations provide $2.8tn in grant-equivalent finance for emissions mitigation in developing countries over the next decade, they can expect economic benefits of at least $7.9tn: a return of 182 per cent. Crucially, this number represents only the economic benefits to the developed nations themselves (in the form of reduced climate change impacts), not to the world as a whole. More in today's FT Moral Money newsletter: https://lnkd.in/e5ixid9g

"The question now at COP29 is whether, after the disaster in Spain — and similarly deadly storms in the US — developed nations will conclude that it is in their own interests to provide the new finance needed to decarbonise the world economy. "An important new academic paper, currently circulating among negotiators in Baku, argues that this is very much the case. Rich countries, it asserts, should view climate-related financial support for poorer ones not as “an act of charity, or moral obligation”, but as “an act of economic self-interest”. "The 144-page paper, by finance professors Patrick Bolton of Imperial College London and Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis of Cornell University, sets out a detailed plan for how countries should approach the new global climate finance goal being thrashed out at COP29 — and why they should want to.

🌍 As the negotiations on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) draw to a close today in Baku, it's really not clear how COP29 will manage to agree the ambitious, bold new climate finance deal that is needed. After four days of sometimes fractious negotiations, there are still massive gaps between developed and developing countries. According to the Arab Group, developed countries provided no commitment, quantum, or accountability. The cautious tone from developed countries is at odds with those speaking of the desperate needs of developing countries. We held a webinar last week, where Dr Christopher Bartlett of Vanuatu, spoke so clearly about the impact of climate change and the importance of finance - “Climate finance truly is a lifeline for SIDS like Vanuatu, particularly if the impacts are worsening daily. We spend about 35% of our GDP annually in responding to climate disasters (including what seems to us like a never-ending stream of category five cyclones, prolonged droughts, and out of season rainfall). These are all causing unbelievable economic and non-economic losses and damages that are well beyond our adaptation limits, and are dwarfing our national budget capacities to respond”. The process now moves to the political level – Ministers are meeting informally in a few weeks in NY, and formally in October in Baku. They should take advice from our latest report, which lays out Five Tests for a Robust NCQG 1: Adopt a fair share approach and comply with the principle of CBDR-RC as set out under the UNFCCC and in the Paris Agreement 2: Be ambitious and based on evolving needs of developing countries 3: Be predominantly made up of public grant-based finance 4: Contain new and additional finance, and result from better use of public resources 5: Be accessible and support gender equality and human rights They will also find inspiration in ODI’s latest report, published with the Alliance, that provides more detailed workings on a burden-sharing mechanism and expanding the contributor base, amongst other things: A Fair Share of Climate Finance? The Collective Aspects of the NCQG 🚨 We need urgent, equitable action. COP29 must deliver a climate finance agreement that matches the scale of the crisis. Anything less is unacceptable. #ClimateAction #COP29 #NCQG #ClimateJustice #ClimateFinance #ZurichClimateResilienceAlliance #ODI #ActNow https://lnkd.in/etxij-aC https://lnkd.in/etpZUHmW https://lnkd.in/eYsd3Z8U

On the 4th day of #COP29, the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & the Environment released a report "The Raising Ambition and Accelerating Delivery of Climate Finance" report https://lnkd.in/gbXPiv3Z by the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance (IHLEG) dives into the critical need to boost global climate investments to meet the pressing goals of the Paris Agreement. Here’s a summary of the main ideas: #Funding Needs by #2030 To stay on track with climate targets, global investments must reach between $6.3 and $6.7 trillion annually by 2030, which climbs even higher to $7–8.1 trillion by 2035. #Emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs)—excluding China—alone require around $2.3–2.5 trillion each year to tackle areas like clean energy, adaptation to climate impacts, and protecting nature. This financial mobilization is essential to achieving global climate stability. Emerging Markets and Developing Countries EMDCs are central to the climate finance conversation, not only because of their resource wealth but also due to their potential for growth in sustainable energy and climate solutions. With renewable energy costs, especially solar, becoming more affordable than ever, these regions stand poised to leverage this opportunity for green growth. Financial #Pathways To address the funding gap, the report suggests innovative financial pathways. (1) bringing in private sector capital is crucial by making investments less risky and less expensive. (2) increasing low-cost finance options (loans or funds with favorable terms) can help nations tackle high costs that often discourage climate investment. The report also suggests strengthening local fiscal management and boosting domestic revenue to ensure funds are available for climate projects. #Private Sector The private sector's involvement is indispensable, as public funding alone will be enough. To attract private investors, it’s important to build financial tools that reduce risks and increase returns on climate-friendly investments. For instance, insurance mechanisms or guarantees could make these investments safer and more appealing to private companies. Ensuring Accountability and Tracking Progress Delivering climate #finance on the needed scale demands robust monitoring and #accountability. Tracking funds effectively and ensuring they’re used where they’re most needed—whether for #mitigating #climate change or helping countries adapt to its effects—is critical to staying on course. Arindam Ghosh Suraj Nangia (ACA , LLM, CMAA , GMP)Suddhasatta Kundu Vahini Naidu Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Subharth Saha Pramod Kr. Sinha South Centre, Geneva Solahudeen Moomin, Ph.D. K N Hemanth kumar Narendra Nath Veluri IFS Victor Vanya, ERP Ana Belén Rojas M VIPIN ATRI .

Today, as AGN Chair, I engaged with the Ministerial Pair on New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) H.E. Minister Chris Bowen (Australia) and H.E. Minister Yasmine Fouad (Egypt). Africa calls for COP29 decision of an outcome-based NCQG provision and mobilisation goal of USD 1.3T/year to 2030, reviewed every 5 years. This quantum should support adaptation, loss & damage, and mitigation including just transitions, emphasizing the need to close the adaptation finance gap including the costs of implementing the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA). Climate Finance under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement is clear: developed countries have a commitment to provide and lead mobilization in line with the principles of historical responsibility and CBDR&RC. Yet, there are concerning moves by some to redefine the mandate of the NCQG discussion to shift the discussion to redefine the classification of developed vs developing countries. The NCQG COP29 Azerbaijan must ensure burden-sharing among developed countries, providing transparency, predictability, and accountability. The finance goal should also respond and address the global economic challenges, high capital costs, the unsustainable debt burden, and the unfair global financial system.