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Climate Finance building blocks starting to emerge?
While the roadmap from Copenhagen is uncertain, climate finance has generated attention from various quarters. It is still very early days, but there are some signs of potential building blocks emerging on short and long-term finance in 2010.
DeBoer declares long-term sources on finance key to climate negotiations in 2010
The outgoing UN Climate Chief gave a series of interviews after announcing his intended resignation this July. On finance, most notably he declared that $300 billion a year after 2020 was likely needed to combat climate change and that “this year should set up a fair mechanism for raising long-term funds, rather than set overall numbers. A robust burden-sharing formula is the most important thing,” he said. More
Ban’s High Level Panel on Climate Finance
As noted late last week, Gordon Brown and Meles Zenawi have been appointed co-chairs of a High Level Panel on Climate Finance by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. The rest of the panel has not yet been announced but they are all expected to have an expertise in finance and are not expected to be chosen to represent constituencies. While the High Level Panel that is referenced in the Copenhagen Accord can only be operationalized by the COP, it is understood that the Secretary General believed this issue needed urgent attention. Clearly any recommendations of this HLP will have to be considered by the COP in December. The panel is expected to focus on sources of long-term finance however the terms of reference have not yet been released. More
Financial Transaction Tax – G20 target
As noted last week, The Robin Hood Campaign, a campaign loosely based on the Tobin Tax was launched last week in the UK. There are movements afoot to broaden the campaign throughout the EU and the G20 is seen as a key forum for this discussion. The world is still acutely feeling the pain inflicted by the economic meltdown triggered by greed in the financial sector – the timing may be perfect for a tax aimed at bankers activities and the need to keep them in check.
Campaign Update
Pew Trust Launches ‘Climate Patriots’ Video
Climate Patriots is a short video that provides a military perspective on energy, climate change and American national security. The Pew Project on National Security, Energy and Climate conducted a series of interviews with former military leaders to discuss the challenges posed to the U.S. armed forces due to the impacts of climate change and our energy posture.
Oxfam International Releases New Report Warning of Catastrophic Consequences of Climate Change in Tajikistan.
Tajikistan’s plight highlights the international injustice of climate change. Tajikistan is one of the countries least responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change. The people of Tajikistan, a small, mountainous country in Central Asia, are experiencing the impacts of climate change. More frequent droughts and heightened extreme weather conditions are hitting poor communities, eroding their resilience. The country’s glaciers are melting, bringing the danger, in the future, of greater water shortages and even disputes in the wider region. Download the report
Bill Gates: the Most Important Climate Speech of the Year
When We Talk Zero, We Sound Crazy. When Bill Gates Does It, Bankers Pick Up the Phone.
On Friday, the world's most successful businessperson and most powerful philanthropist did something outstandingly bold, that went almost unremarked: Bill Gates announced that his top priority is getting the world to zero climate emissions. More
