The 6th Exchange Series

Topic: GCF Capitalization and the Prospects for a Successful 2015 Climate Deal

Dear friends,

 

It has been about two months since we engaged in the last Exchange discussion where we explored the USAID Adapt Asia-Pacific Third Annual Forum 2014 theme: Strengthening Country Systems to Access and Manage Climate Change Adaptation Financing in Asia and the Pacific.

 

Thank you for all your contributions. We received many insightful responses from government officials in Bangladesh, Nepal, Philippines, and Timor-Leste, emphasizing the need to strengthen their national systems to not only improve access to climate finance, but also to boost the effectiveness and efficiency of climate investments and to “make every cent count.”

 

The last Exchange, and indeed much of the USAID Adapt Asia-Pacific Third Annual Forum’s discussion, focused on the “what-can-countries-do” questions in relation to accessing and managing climate finance. We wanted to hear from developing countries themselves and explore concrete opportunities for capacity development.

 

In this Exchange, I would like to bring our attention back to the international arena as governments pledged a total of US$9.7 billion at the recent Green Climate Fund’s (GCF) High-Level Pledging Conference held in Berlin, Germany on 20 November 2014, ahead of the 20th Conference of the Parties (COP20) taking place in Lima, Peru this week.

 

This is a good start, but the UNFCCC estimates that by 2030 poor countries would need financing of between US$28 billion and US$59 billion a year to address climate change, and the World Bank thinks it is between US$20 billion and US$100 billion a year. Would the momentum be kept? And will it spur the rest of the world to cough up their share?

 

With that in mind, and with COP20 taking place during our Exchange period, I would like us to consider the follow questions:

 

1. How critical are the commitments made at the GCF’s High-Level Pledging Conference for advancing the UN climate negotiations in Lima this year and for reaching a universal agreement in Paris next year?
2. Given that the US$30 billion “fast track” funds committed in 2009 was for a three-year period (2010-2012), do you think what is committed for 2015 over a four-year period is enough to meet the scale of climate change challenges? How much more is needed? And how can we be sure the GCF will be effective?

 

I look forward to hearing your views.

 

Thank you.

 

Dr. Peter N. King

Team Leader
Adaptation Project Preparation and Finance
USAID Adapt Asia-Pacific

 

Senior Policy Advisor
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
Regional Centre
Bangkok, Thailand