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CUTS Daily Bulletin # 03 | November 14, 2024
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Campaign for the Global Alliance for Leveraging Innovative Finance (GALIF)
 Climate change has dominated headlines, yet its inextricable link with biodiversity remains curiously muffled. This disconnect, despite both issues falling under the purview of most environmental ministries, underscores a dangerous silo mentality. To ensure a future worth inheriting, we must address these intertwined challenges in unison, guided by pragmatism and global equity.
CUTS International's 'Fund of Funds' proposal leverages diverse financing sources, creating a “Global Alliance for Leveraging Innovative Finance” (GALIF) that advocates an agnostic Fund of Funds and seeks to streamline financing, boost investments, and effectively channel resources toward climate and biodiversity initiatives, ensuring a more impactful and comprehensive approach to address these pressing global challenges. To join the campaign please write to us at: galif@cuts.org
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An overly lengthy 34-page draft on a new climate finance goal emerged on Wednesday, the third day of the UN climate talks in Azerbaijan's Baku. The text is filled with repetitions and duplications, making it difficult to work with.
While the text includes all the elements everyone wanted, there is growing concern as three days have already passed with little progress.
The G77 and China group requested the co-chairs to organise the draft text by themes rather than adding new ideas to it.
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Some developed countries on Wednesday acknowledged that trillions of dollars were urgently needed to address climate change and wealthy nations should continue to lead in providing climate finance.
These countries -- including Germany, Canada, France, and the Netherlands -- are part of an alliance known as the High Ambition Coalition, which advocates for bold climate actions.
"As we negotiate this new goal for climate finance, we must again overcome our differences, strengthen our commitment to global solidarity, and find the money to meet the planet's growing needs," the coalition said stressing that trillions of dollars were urgently needed.
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Negotiators at the UN climate summit need to find trillions of dollars — and they’re increasingly turning to private capital, rather than governments. Even though nations are doing the talking, much of the money isn’t going to be coming from governments.
Developed countries, feeling cash-strapped these days, are already telegraphing at the start of the COP29 summit that a large part of any finance promised through these negotiations will need to come from sources out of their direct control. That includes the private sector through loans and other “innovative” finance structures.
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The draft of the NCQG text, released for debate, has underscored tensions, with countries navigating the complexities of funding sources, distribution mechanisms, and financial targets.
The High Ambition Coalition (HAC), representing some G7 countries absent from COP29, including Canada, France, and the Netherlands, emphasised the need for developed countries to lead and fulfil their financial obligations.
Brazil, on its part, announced a targeted emission reduction of 59-67 percent by 2035, with a commitment to adaptation strategies.
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The coalition, led by the Marshall Islands, reaffirmed its commitment to climate action. President Hilda Heine expressed optimism about engaging with the incoming U.S. administration, emphasising the importance of climate security for both the U.S. and the Marshall Islands. She stated that the Paris Agreement remains a robust process despite political changes in the U.S.
In contrast, Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, criticised the potential U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, highlighting a moral obligation for the U.S. to lead in climate funding due to its historical emissions. He called for accountability from major polluters to address climate justice.
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UN chief Antonio Guterres said the world needs to move much quicker in its efforts. And while there was much applause for a US$170bn a year promise for the world's top development banks, there was an even bolder call for the International Monetary Fund to sell 04 percent of its gold to help low-income countries devastated by climate-related catastrophes.
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Fortunately, at every climate summit, there is a leader, more or less unknown, who goes off script. At COP26 in Glasgow, the main protagonist was Simon Kofe, Tuvalu's Foreign Minister, delivering his speech fully suited with water up to his waist from his distant Pacific island: "We are sinking!"
At COP29 in Baku, that role was taken on by Albania's Prime Minister, Edi Rama, giving up reading what he had written and scolding the over 66,000 delegates who have finally gathered in the capital of Azerbaijan: "What the hell are we doing here at these summits, time and time again if there is no common policy on the horizon to go beyond words and unite for meaningful action?"
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