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CUTS Daily Bulletin # 04 | November 15, 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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The UN Summit on Climate Change (COP29) on Wednesday released a new draft of the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) after the first version was rejected by developing countries.
“The version released on Tuesday seems written for developed countries to get out of grant or concessional financing responsibilities by allowing any investments (even non-concessional) to be counted towards the goal,” Arun Krishnan, climate finance expert, said.
Because of the scale of the financing required, some experts and countries, including Switzerland, Canada, and the US, have suggested expanding the list of countries mandated to contribute, also called the contributor base, to include emerging countries with high emissions and high incomes
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India said developed countries must commit to providing at least USD 1.3 trillion each year until 2030 to developing nations and that the new climate finance package negotiated at the Azerbaijan UN climate conference cannot become an 'investment goal'.
Speaking on behalf of Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) at the sixth High-Level Dialogue on Climate Finance at the UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, India emphasised that this support for developing countries to cope with the warming world should come through grants, concessional financing, and non-debt incurring aid.
India also said that "NCQG (New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance) cannot be changed into an investment goal" when it is a unidirectional provision and mobilisation goal from developed to developing countries
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With more divisions than a show of unity, the Argentine delegation pulled out of the COP29 climate event in Baku, and the French minister—heading her country’s delegation—decided to cancel her trip after Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev attacked France in his speech on Wednesday.
The Argentine withdrawal came on the order of the country’s President Javier Milei, Spanish media Climatica, which first reported the development, said. The decision sparked speculation that Argentina might pull out of the Paris Agreement, with Milei likely to meet US President-elect Donald Trump this week.
Asked whether Argentina would pull out of the agreement, Ana Lamas, undersecretary for environment for Argentina, who led the country’s delegation at COP29, told Reuters: “We are only withdrawing from COP29.”
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On COP29’s ‘finance day,’ the Azerbaijan presidency was expected to unveil one of its flagship—and most controversial—initiatives: a climate fund designed “primarily” for developing countries with money voluntarily contributed by fossil fuel-producing countries and companies.
But, when the big day came, the Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF) disappeared from the agenda. A “high-level event” to launch the financial mechanism was scrapped, while the presidency put the idea on the back burner.
When Climate Home asked Azerbaijan’s lead negotiator, Yalchin Rafiyev, about it, he said that the COP hosts have established a working group to “work out a concept that would be workable and acceptable” for donor countries interested in joining the initiative.
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As the 12-day Conference of the Parties (COP29) gets close to its midpoint at Baku, Azerbaijan, much is being made out of India’s low-key presence at such an important global event. A practical understanding of the same is that India continues to walk a tightrope. As the world ponders moving to greener energy pastures, India cannot do so just yet, as a growing population also demands more energy, which simply cannot be provided with green sources at present.
India has already made its stand on the issue clear by stating that its goals will be prioritising accountability, green credit initiatives, fair financing, and achievable climate goals for developing economies.
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BASIC countries, including India, have asked developed countries to honour their commitments to provide climate finance rather than “diluting obligations” and rejected attempts by the rich nations to shift their financial responsibilities during negotiations at the ongoing COP29 here.
As the annual climate change summit entered its fourth day on Thursday (November 14, 2024), Brazil, South Africa, India, and China (BASIC) also reiterated the need to fully implement the Paris Agreement 2015, a legally binding international treaty.
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