The Green Climate Fund is an international catalyst for climate action goals

Green Climate Fund is an international catalyst for climate action goals

About the Green Climate Fund, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin said: “Many parties are actively seeking to mobilize funds for climate action, and this is despite geopolitical crises, economic obstacles, and environmental challenges.”

Mohieldin - the United Nations Special Envoy for Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the climate leader for the Egyptian Presidency of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP27) - revealed the success of the Green Climate Fund in pushing many countries to contribute to financing climate action around the world, and among these countries: Germany, Canada, and the Principality of Monaco, as he expected the number of countries that would be interested in the vision of the Green Climate Fund to increase in the coming months, This is shortly before the launch of “COP28”.

This came during his participation in the “Meetings of the Independent Group of High-Level Experts on Financing Climate Action”, which were meetings held in Abu Dhabi between August 15 and 16, where these meetings witnessed the participation of Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, and from the Emirati side, Dr. Sultan Al-Jaber, the President-designate of the Twenty-Eighth Conference of the Parties (COP), and Adnan Amin, the Executive Director of the Conference, in addition to the two heads of the group: “Vera Songwi and Nicholas Stern, as well as Kristalina Georgieva, Director General of the International Monetary Fund, and Mark Carney, the United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. The meetings also witnessed the presence of experts and representatives of international and regional financial institutions, and the presence of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero Emissions.

 The discussions of these meetings were focused on the Green Climate Fund and the restructuring of financial institutions, where participants recommended the need to achieve harmony between different financing tools, and pay attention to soft financing tools. In order to support climate action and its green projects. Participants also recommended expediting the identification of comprehensive, fair and effective financing mechanisms.

In this context,Egyptian climate pioneer believed that attention should also be given to identifying financing challenges that require rapid intervention, developing a climate financing plan, and implementing it through the upcoming conferences of the parties, starting with the twenty-eighth edition, which will be held in the Emirates early next November.

 There, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin pointed out that climate and development platforms are of utmost importance in cooperation between governments, multilateral development banks, and the private sector. He drew attention to the importance of mixed development and climate financing, which consists of national and external financing sources. Mohieldin also spoke about the necessity of linking countries’ budgets to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental preservation.

Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin stated that the Green Climate Fund is an idea that must be based on a balance between financing emission mitigation projects and climate change adaptation projects, and taking into consideration the file of losses and damages. Referring to the role played by the Transitional Committee that manages the governance framework of the Loss and Damage Fund.

 He also added that carbon emissions mitigation projects have witnessed significant international movement in the past months. This is thanks to the private sector and its effective efforts, and thanks to the work of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero Emissions. Mohieldin also praised the “Five Regional Forums Initiative,” which was the result of Egypt’s success in its presidency of the Twenty-Seventh Conference of the Parties (COP) last year.

 Regarding this initiative, he said: “It is an initiative that has resulted in a large number of climate projects.” He pointed to the effective cooperation between different financing bodies and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero Emissions, which helped make this initiative a success. Then, in his speech about the Green Climate Fund, he stressed that climate and development financing policies deal with debt crises through debt reduction mechanisms, or exchanging them for investments in climate and development, as well as extending the payment periods for these debts in a way that lifts the burden on developing countries.

Therefore, Mohieldin praised concessional financing policies, explaining that many African countries - for example - have become in need of development and climate financing, but they are middle-income countries and do not enjoy the benefits of concessional financing. Here he said: “The performance of multilateral development banks requires increasing their capital. So that it can be developed so that it can meet the requirements of climate and development work.”

At the conclusion of his speech about the Green Climate Fund, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin stressed the importance of time in restructuring international financial institutions and developing multilateral development banks. To keep pace with current and future financing policies and rules; For a sustainable and green world.