Geneva, November 4 – The Club Suisse de la Presse hosted an event to address the hotly debated issue of climate finance in the run-up to COP29, to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22. The event was moderated by Geneva Solutions editor-in-chief Kasmira Jefford, with the participation of panelists Lien Vandamme - senior campaigner at the Center for International Environmental Law - Matthew McKinnon – founder and executive director of Aroha - and Amelia Santos Paulino – chief of the investment research section at UNCTAD. In addition to climate finance and investments, the moderator and panelists emphasized the general lack of trust in the climate funding process, the common and differentiated responsibilities of countries, the current gap to achieve the sustainable development goals by 2030, as well as the phenomenon of greenwashing and the impact of the current crackdown against civil society in Azerbaijan on the COP to be held next week in the capital Baku.
First of all, when asked why finance is so important at this stage and for whom, Lien Vandamme replied that it is important for everyone, due to the global urgency to end the ongoing climate crisis and to help vulnerable communities adapt and deal with loss and damage. Vandamme highlighted that one of the biggest problems is the current erosion of trust in the financing process, due to the scarce and lack of commitment of rich countries.
Later on, Matthew McKinnon emphasized the difficult times in which this specific COP is taking place, underlining how this year’s conference is “an in-between COP”. While the next COP in Brazil will focus on the new, more ambitious climate agenda targets, and the previous COP in Dubai, one of the largest ever, enshrined a renewable energy target for 2030, the current COP will be a transitional, albeit important, event. Currently, the ability of countries to come forward and fill the financial gap is sort of in question, since the way the funding is structured under the Paris Agreement, developed countries are the ones that have to provide the funding specifically. In fact, Mckinnon, addressed the issue of common but differentiated responsibilities, noting that emerging economies will find it difficult to step up with the financing process unless they see a more substantial commitment from developed countries, which – historically – have caused more damage to the environment.
Amelia Santos Paulino spoke about the role of the private sector in closing the climate investment gap. She highlighted that it's a critical time for climate investments and financing: the 4.4 trillion per year gap in investments to achieve Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, requires a cooperation and a greater integration of the private sector in the process, as well as policy coherence. It is fundamental today to invest in adaptation as crises are becoming more frequent and COP29 gives the platform to discuss this and implement initiatives for sectors to work better together. Amelia Santos Paulino added that it is crucial to address the quality and transparency of climate finance, in particular the issue of greenwashing and many misleading claims by investors, as well as reporting mechanisms on where money come from, in order to be able to adequately respond to the ongoing climate crisis.
In response to a question from Emin Huseynov, representing the COP29 Campaign, on climate finance transparency, greenwashing, and countries like Azerbaijan using the green economy to launder public funds, Amelia Santos Paulino stated that they are promoting quality and transparency in climate finance in two ways: one is to address the issue of distinguishing between aid, loans, grants and investments, so that countries do not easily get into debt, and to have a clear and transparent framework to help with accountability. Matthew McKinnon explained that the COP President is responsible for the outcomes of the conference, which does not mean that there are no agreements already made. He also stressed the definition of transparency in this case, meaning that when developed countries give money, they want to see something in return, for example if that money has reduced emissions.
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