The UK and US hosted financiers and philanthropists in Windsor yesterday as richer countries aim to show that they are keeping up with climate finance pledges.
The Climate Finance Mobilisation Forum was held yesterday, hosted by Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Grant Shapps and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
The event was convened as part of President Joe Biden’s visit to the UK, with participants invited to Windsor Castle to speak to King Charles and President Biden about the conclusions of the discussion.
The event was billed as “building momentum on implementation efforts that contribute to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement”.
Article 9 of the Paris Agreement states that developed country Parties should provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The goal of spending $100 billion per year by 2020 was first committed to at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) of the UNFCCC in Copenhagen in 2009, and was reiterated and extended to 2025 at COP21 in Paris.
Last week, leaked memos seen by the Guardian from the civil service indicated that the government was looking at abandoning its £11.6 billion commitment towards the climate finance pledge, with critics like Zac Goldsmith suggesting that the government was making it impossible for the next government to meet its spending commitments.
Today, the UK united with our US allies to safeguard global energy security.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) July 10, 2023
The UK’s leadership alongside @JohnKerry & global business leaders has unlocked vital private investments that will empower countries to secure their energy systems and grow the global economy. pic.twitter.com/qXjTRpOwst
A report published at COP27 and commissioned by Egypt and the UK warned that by 2030, emerging markets and developing countries (other than China) would need to exceed $2 trillion by 2030, and these emerging and developing countries should work with investors, institutions and states to unlock $1 trillion annually in external finance to match another $1 trillion to come from their own private and public domestic sources.
Energy security secretary Grant Shapps said: “Finance is the lifeblood of growing economies. Billions has been spent so far to accelerate the green transition already underway, and the UK is delivering its £11.6 billion of International Climate Finance to support countries around the world – but if we want to deliver real change, we must go further and do it together. The scale of this transition requires trillions in private investment in addition to the public funds we are spending.”
US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said: “The climate crisis is here. It’s caused by the unabated burning of fossil fuels, and it’s going to get worse without action. No government can solve this crisis by itself. We need to work together with the private sector and philanthropy to speed up the net zero, resilient transition.”
“One important outcome of today’s event will be the ideas and potential collaborations that are seeded and the tangible action and ways private finance and philanthropies can collaborate to accelerate action on the road to COP28,” Kerry added.
In a joint statement published this morning (11 July), the US and UK said they looked forward to a follow up summit at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, which “will host a High-Level Business & Philanthropy Delivery Forum during the World Leaders Climate Action Summit. The Forum will focus on removing barriers to progress, showcasing what is working, and identifying opportunities for collaboration, and acceleration.”
The joint statement announced spending commitments from companies like Builders Vision, Leapfrog Investments, The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), The Sustainable Market Initiative (SMI), as well as showcasing other recent financing announcements from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), BlackRock, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Community Jameel, Three Cairns Group and Sea Change Foundation International, Ninety One, and The World Bank’s Private Sector Investment Lab.