Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) Conference in Berlin

Talk of “commitments to the Paris Agreement,” and “climate mitigation” by a far-off deadline of 2030 or 2050 can often seem like a distant, abstract concept.

As with any big and important goal, it helps to break it down into small manageable steps. That’s why I was excited to participate in today’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) Conference held in Berlin. The NDCs are the basis for countries to achieve their climate goals and contribute to the Paris Agreement objectives.

Making commitments is a start but the real honor comes in how we implement them. And sometimes we need to ask for help and rely on our support networks along the way, for guidance and assistance. As nations work to implement their Paris Agreement commitments, international coordination is key to drive the enormous task of transitioning to a global, low-carbon economy. To accelerate progress and ensure a fair transition in which everyone benefits, we must join forces.

The Global NDC Conference is a key event for doing just that, sharing expertise and joining forces. I was honored to speak at today’s conference, along with many esteemed leaders, including #Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck. It was a great opportunity to outline key challenges and bottlenecks for mobilizing private sector money in the global climate effort.

To break down the big Paris Agreement goal into small, manageable steps, I shared my views on what needs to be considered upfront when financing the transition in a respective country or region:

First of all, the risks need to be understood and managed. They range from classical currency risks to regulatory risks. The absence of standards is another significant risk, from measurement and reporting standards to procurement process transparency. The work to create standards mitigates finance risk and serves as a roadmap to the future for all of us.

Secondly, expert capacity needs to be built. Moving into unchartered territory always requires flexing new skills and using new tools. To finance the transition, we need to build expert capacity, with sector knowledge, experience and strong networks that allow infrastructure project owners, investors, and governments to work together.

And last, but not least, we need large scale planning, which starts with visionary thinking. We must answer the question what should the energy markets, transport and information networks look like in 2030? From there, we work backwards to plan how to implement that visionary goal. As the old saying goes, a failure to plan is a plan for failure.

At today’s conference, I was encouraged to witness the willingness of many to dive into the details. There was robust discussion about how to build on existing examples of effective transition finance, to unlock the flow of capital to finance more projects. The #Emerging Market Climate Action Fund (EMCAF) is one of these promising examples.

As Minister Habeck outlined in his speech, accomplishing the goals of the Paris Agreement requires the collective effort of government, industry and finance. Only by joining forces can we scale what’s needed to envision, plan, develop, finance and implement our commitments to a sustainable future.

So, let’s join our forces and move forward to make the transition happen. At Allianz, we have many experts ready and willing to help.

Thanks to all for organizing the conference and hosting the event #BMWK, #IKI, #NDC Partnership, #GIZ and #UNDP and all contributors.