29 May 2017: Over the month of May, the UNFCCC convened its Subsidiary Bodies’ intersessional meetings, and several development banks and climate funds held their annual meetings. Two new MDB-led funds, aimed at supporting private sector participation and gender empowerment, and infrastructure project alignment with UNFCCC nationally determined contributions (NDCs), were launched.
In the Paris Agreement on climate change, countries agreed to make “finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate-resilient development.” Developing countries will receive financial resources for both mitigation and adaptation actions, while developed countries are expected to continue leading in mobilizing climate finance from a variety of sources, with public funds playing a significant role in reaching the previously agreed US$100 billion annual target by 2020. Monthly Climate Finance Updates of the SDG Knowledge Hub aim to help track multilateral financing to support the finance goal agreed under the UNFCCC, which will in turn contribute to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 (Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts).
New Funds for Private Sector, Women’s Empowerment, Project Delivery
Two funds were launched in May: the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Canada agreed to establish a trust fund with the dual aim of supporting private sector participation and gender equality in ADB’s climate change activities. Canada will support the fund with CA$200 million (US$151 million). [ADB Press Release]
In Latin America, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a new instrument aimed at supporting the planning, design and preparation of infrastructure projects and portfolios in line with NDCs and sustainable development objectives. The NDC Pipeline Accelerator Multi-Donor Trust Fund is part of the IDB’s NDC Invest platform and will provide support to covering additional planning, design and execution costs. The Nordic Development Fund (NDF) has committed to funding half of IDB’s indicative goal of US$20 million for the fund. [IDB Press Release] [NDF Press Release]
UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies’ Meetings Issue Finance Conclusions
In May, the UNCCCC Subsidiary Bodies met to review the implementation of the Convention and advance work on the Paris Agreement “rulebook,” and adopted several conclusions related to finance: review of the functions of the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF); third review of the Adaptation Fund; various conclusions related to UNFCCC financial matters, including the programme budget for 2018-2019; and modalities for accounting of financial resources provided and mobilized through public interventions under Paris Agreement Article 9.7 (ex post finance transparency). [IISD SDG Knowledge Hub Story] [IISD RS Coverage of UNFCCC SB 46]
Climate finance-related side events in Bonn included an event by the Adaptation Fund, which showcased the Fund’s innovative climate resilience projects in vulnerable communities in Antigua and Barbuda, Morocco, South Africa, Senegal and Honduras. [Adaptation Fund Press Release]