OUTCOMES + APs: July Climate Ministerial Chair's summary (25th-26th)
Dear colleagues,
The UK COP26 Presidency has now published the Chair's summary from the July Climate Ministerial. More information on the Ministerial is in my original email below this one.
Climate finance outcomes outlined in the Chair's summary include:
Climate finance delivery plan from developed countries
- Countries highlighted their displeasure that the existing global climate finance goal hasn't been met yet and agreed to discuss how to address this. COP26 President Sharma also encouraged further consideration of how to scale up adaptation finance, which could be reflected in the developed country plan.
- Outcome of this discussion point: State Secretary Flasbarth of Germany and Minister Wilkinson of Canada will lead developed countries in setting out a plan for how they will collectively deliver the $100 billion per year climate finance mobilisation goal through to 2025.
- Possible activities for us: National level advocacy on the quality of this plan. Developed countries may see this plan as an opportunity for 'creative' accounting on their climate finance. So there's a need to ensure that climate finance is new and additional to existing finance commitments e.g. ODA, has a high amount of grants and concessional finance, and that private finance is not used for public goods projects. Ahead of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Climate Action Network International (CAN) plans to create a 'do's and dont's' document on what should go into this Ministers plan, focusing on a call for more climate finance.
Post-2025 climate finance ( new collective quantified goal to be agreed by 2025)
- Ministers discussed expectations for the new collective quantified goal at COP26, noting the importance of agreeing a clear plan for setting the goal that includes structured milestones for setting the goal. Some Ministers suggested a role for informal settings such as workshops and the need for inputs from non-Party stakeholders, including the private sector, was also noted.
- Outcome of this discussion point: The COP26 Presidency will carry-out a work plan for submissions and consultations on this in order to develop proposals for discussion by Ministers ahead of and in Glasgow.
- Possible activities for us: During June 2021 bilateral meetings with the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) it was stated that a plan to agree a new goal is not enough. It would be useful to get a stronger understanding of developing countries' asks for the post-2025 climate finance discussions at COP26.
Private finance and market-based finance mechanisms
- Some ministers highlighted specific innovations, such as green bonds and natural disaster clauses to help break the debt cycle. Ministers also noted that this growth in climate finance from domestic and private sources and international support both have a critical role to play in meeting the needs of developing countries.
- Outcome of this discussion point: The COP26 Presidency will keep Ministers informed of the work launched under the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero to mobilise private finance into developing countries.
- Possible activities for us: Private finance and climate finance is a complex issue that is gaining more ground in the post-2025 climate finance discussions. It will be useful to understand from developed countries if they have a figure in mind on what the split between private and public finance for climate finance should be. It would also be useful to know what areas developed countries have identified private finance is most needed in developing countries e.g. energy, infrastructure etc, so we can do our own CSO analysis to highlight the need for greater public finance for public goods.
Debt and climate finance dynamics
- Some Ministers highlighted the need to improve the accessibility, quality and effectiveness of climate finance and the importance of concessional and grant-based finance given the reduced fiscal space of many vulnerable countries in the context of Covid19. In this context, the importance of progress being made on indebtedness beyond the direct provision of climate finance was highlighted, with some ministers proposing the consideration of debt swaps. Some ministers also noted that their countries face challenges accessing concessional finance despite being acutely vulnerable to climate change and noted the need for further consideration of this matter.
- Outcome of this discussion point: /
- Possible activities for us: It would be useful to have some clear points to share on how greater access to climate finance can be provided for developing countries. There's a recent paper from CIDSE on greater access to the GCF for CSO [https://www.cidse.org/2021/04/28/new-study-cidse-publishes-a-report-on-csos-access-to-the-green-climate-fund-an-analysis-of-policies-and-experiences-from-case-studies/] . However, there are other streams of finance to consider too. This is also something to determine if it should be included in the Eurodad debt and climate campaign.
Climate finance pledging conference
- Some ministers raised a proposal for a pledging moment at or around the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
- Outcome of this discussion point: UK COP26 Presidency to hold bilaterals to determine if this is possible. Apparently, the UK The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has stated it doesn't have the capacity to engage in climate diplomacy, and the UK COP26 team isn't willing to push FCDO on this.
- Possible activities for us: However, it seems that some countries think that a pledging conference is 'too soon' to have a pledging conference at UNGA. It's still useful to engage in national level advocacy, so that if there are climate finance pledges announced at UNGA then the quality is as good as possible e.g. grants not loans etc.
Loss & Damage (L&D)
- I have not reviewed the Loss & Damage (L&D) section in detail. However, some really good is that Ministers "noted that eligibility for concessional and grant finance needs to take into account vulnerability, not be simply based on measures of GDP". This is useful language that we have repeatedly used, so maybe someone is paying attention?
General points
- The COP26 Presidency will continue to take forward its intersessional work plan on climate finance, including on the new collective quantified goal. The incoming Presidency will also keep Ministers apprised of both the Access to Finance Taskforce.
- Ministers emphasised that Glasgow must keep 1.5°C in reach, addressing the ambition gaps on adaptation, mitigation, loss and damage and finance; and completing the Paris Rulebook.
Format of the Ministerial:
The Ministerial was a mix of those in the room and those online. Ministers in the room were happy to be meeting face to face again, and started engaging in bilaterals and coordination meetings (impromptu and organised). Countries started discussing possible compromises and didn't simply read prepared speeches. This is a good step and has been missing during online meetings.
If anyone has any information on how the Ministerial went, please do share, as it's useful to understand the political dynamics on climate finance ahead of September/ October. Our next network call is scheduled for August 18th at 11:00 CEST we can discuss these advocacy points then. If you're not able to join on the 18th, please let me know!
Best regards,
Leia
