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Belém Climate News Update No. 12 China calls for “implementation roadmap” for delivery of new finance goal Belem, 20 Nov (Radhika Chatterjee) - At the 3rd high level ministerial dialogue on climate finance was held on Nov 15, during the ongoing climate talks in Belem, Brazil, Li Gao, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China, called on developed countries to “present an implementation roadmap for the delivery of the USD300 billion [per year]…including short-term and medium-term actions for providing the necessary guarantee”, in this regard. The Chinese Vice Minister also called for the establishment of “a new quantified target and implementation plan for adaptation finance”. Li Gao said further that “the delivery of the USD300 billion in the new collective quantified goal on finance [NCQG] should serve as an opportunity to rebuild trust” between developed and developing countries, and called for the development of a “practical roadmap for implementation” to “avoid blame-shifting and prevent further erosion of trust between developed and developing countries.” The Vice Minister pointed out that while delivering on their USD100 billion commitment, developed countries included export credits and official development assistance [ODA] in their accounting, and included excessive market-rate loans, which cannot be regarded as “new and additional” by developing countries. As a result of which “many developing countries do not recognise that the USD100 billion target has been truly met.” [See further details below]. Moderated by Katie White, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State, Minister of Climate (United Kingdom) and Deborah Mlongo Barasa, Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry (Kenya), the dialogue saw several high-level speakers sharing their views on the NCQG. The key note address was delivered by Analena Baerbock, the President of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly and Professor Jim Skea, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Expert keynote presentations were delivered by Avinash Persaud, Special Advisor to the President of the Inter-American Development Bank, and Artur Cardoso de Lacerda, Green Climate Fund. These were followed by a discussion session of ministers from four countries, Egypt, China, Germany and Norway. This discussion and the subsequent interventions addressed the following guiding questions:
[This event draws its mandate from paragraph 10 of Decision 12/CMA.1 which provides for the convening of biennial high level ministerial dialogues on climate finance in the “context of identification of indicative quantitative and qualitative information related” to Articles 9.1 (on provision of finance by developed countries) and 9.3 (mobilisation of finance with developed countries taking the lead) of the PA, “including as available, projected levels of public financial resources to be provided by Parties” as per Article 9.5.] Analena Baerbock, said the “North Star of the PA has guided us from projection of 4 degrees C of warming in 2100 to between 2.3 and 2.8 degrees C today.” Elaborating further, she said without the PA we would still be facing a 4-degree C world. “Yet we all know we are still far from 1.5 degrees C as set in Paris.” She pointed out that renewable energy has now become “single fastest growing source of new energy. Yet, even as renewable energies are on the rise globally, we are far from realizing their full potential and aligning financing with our goals remains our greatest challenge.” She said the annual financing gap for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals totals to USD 4 trillion, adding further that “on climate finance specifically, Article 9 and the NCQG agreed at COP29 called on developed countries to provide USD300 billion annually in climate finance.” Sharing a note of optimism, she said “the technologies are here and they are affordable, different than 10 years ago. In our world of abundance, its not money as such that is the problem. The question is rather how and where money is invested.” She said despite the progress made, potential remains “untapped because capital still isn't flowing where it's needed most, especially in Africa… Today over 600 million Africans still live without electricity, even though the continent's renewable potential is 50 times greater than the world's projected electricity demand for 2040. Yet, in 2024, Africa added only 4.2 gigawatts of renewable capacity compared to 421 gigawatts in Asia” and that “this is happening on a continent with the youngest and fastest growing population on earth, where 60% of people are under the age of 25. So the question is not whether the money or the potential exists, but how to channel it to where it's needed most.” Highlighting the importance of private finance, she said it is clear that “public financing alone cannot close the gap. Building on the commitments of developed countries, all actors, public and private, must now mobilize USD 1.3 trillion needed each year for climate action. Unlocking this potential requires dismantling barriers that hold their capital flows. We know investors want to invest and governments want to collaborate.” Baerbock elaborated that “What's missing is an enabling environment in all the regions built on trust and cooperation. That means modern financial frameworks as discussed in Seville [at the 4th Financing for Development Conference, in July 2025]. It means scaled up international funds and the removal of restrictions that stifle innovation as we outlined in the Seville Commitment on Financing for Sustainable Development.” She said there is a need for the world to “come out of the silos and connect these different commitments.” She stressed that developing countries should “strengthen domestic capacity, maintaining stability, improving infrastructure and creating regulatory framework that the de-risk and attract investment,” and that “developed countries in turn have to deliver on the promises.” She said “investing in climate resilience is not an act of charity. It is an investment in global prosperity, stability, universal human rights, but also future economic development.” Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety, Germany said “public finance is the core of the NCQG” and developed countries are taking the lead in its delivery. He said “nobody here in the room doesn’t want to deliver,” adding that “we will continue to provide our fair share” maintaining a balance between mitigation and adaptation. He said there is a need for more finance from private sources, reducing the cost of capital, creating enabling environments to ensure financial flows. In this context, he mentioned the dialogue on Article 2.1.c of the PA and its complementarity with Article 9 and expressed a desire for “an ambitious outcome” on it. He said there is a need to be free of the triple crisis of escalating debt burden, climate change, and biodiversity and nature loss, adding that in the context of evolving needs the impact and effectiveness of climate finance needs to be maximized. Li Gao, the Chinese Vice Minister, in addition to his remarks above, said that effective implementation of Article 9.1 and 9.3 of the PA and the NCQG decision “is crucial for scaling up financial resources, strengthening support to developing countries in implementing their climate actions and their nationally determined contributions [NDCs], and in advancing the achievement of goals of the PA,” adding further that “this could be done by upholding the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” [CBDR-RC] and clearly defining “the responsibilities and boundaries of financial support.” Elaborating further, he said Article 4.3 of the Convention “explicitly stipulates that developed countries shall provide new, additional, predictable, and adequate financial resources to developing countries. This legal obligation is continued and reinforced under Article 9.1 of the PA. Article 9.3 further specifies that developed countries should take the lead [on the mobilisation of finance], noting the significantt role of public funds.” He said the significant gap “between the provision and mobilization of climate finance and the actual needs of developing countries… hinders global climate action and undermines trust between the North and the South. Developed countries should strictly fulfill their funding obligations and honour their financial commitments, while fully considering the needs of developing countries. They should provide and expand public finance, primarily in the form of grants and highly concessional loans.” Li Gao also said that China will, on a voluntary basis continue to “provide support within our capacity to other developing countries through South-South cooperation on climate change.” Highlights of interventions from country groupings Iraq for the G77 and China said that for the Group, “scaling up climate finance in accordance with the principles and provisions of the UNFCCC and PA forms the core of the priorities”, and called for its full and timely delivery by developed countries. It emphasized that the “USD300 billion remains significantly insufficient to meet the needs of developing countries in their just efforts to combat climate change” and asked developed countries to “significantly scale up the provision of climate finance and means of implementation to enable ambitious and urgent climate action at the scale and speed required.” It also highlighted the need for “addressing the systemic dis-enablers of climate finance.” It said COP30 must ensure a successful outcome on items related to climate finance, including the Adaptation Fund. It underscored “the need to improve biennial communications submitted by developed countries to demonstrate additionality and deliver the predictability needed.” It emphasised the importance of operationalising the NCQG decision “to urge the operating entities of the Financial Mechanism and other Funds to at least triple their annual outflows by 2030, with a significant increase of public resources provided through the Funds.” It said the agreed goal under the NCQG “can only be met through fully executed contribution inputs from developed countries to the Trust Funds of the Operating Entities in a predictable, timely, and ambitious manner.” It requested all climate funds to “have transparent financing procedures, that apply equally to all non-annex I Convention Parties.” It asked developed countries to “address non-enablers and structural barriers, such as transaction costs, risk assessments, bottlenecks of the international financial institutions and illicit financial flows that are creating reverse flows from south to north and diverging climate-resilient development in developing countries.” Finally, it stressed that “measures to address climate change, including unilateral actions, must not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade” and urged the “international community to act in unity in addressing climate change, consistent with the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.” India for the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) said accessing climate finance at scale is the “critical enabler of climate action.” It said “several measures, such as strengthening the operational entities of the Financial Mechanisms through increased replenishments and pledges, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of these institutions, without discrimination and conditionalities, can play a significant role in enhancing the flow of resources to developing countries in the short to medium term.” Adding further, it said, “grants and concessional resources under Article 9.1 can lower the cost of capital, facilitating a robust pipeline of investments in developing countries and making these investments more sustainable by lowering the cost of capital. Innovative financial instruments such as blended finance could also play a major role in mobilizing resources under Article 9.3.” Emphasizing the importance of transparency, predictability and reliability of financial flows, India said “the absence of a multilaterally agreed-upon definition of climate finance and deficiencies in reporting under Article 9.5 have been a concern to developing countries.” It pointed out that the recent synthesis report on the biennial communications under Article 9.5 shows that certain developed countries have “reported a decrease in financial support compared to previous years, with reductions ranging from 51–75 per cent and 76–100 per cent, respectively. There is a lack of consistency among developed countries in defining what constitutes new and additional climate finance, as well as a failure to distinguish between development finance and climate finance in their reports. We require multi-year, quantified projections with methodologies under article 9.5 for predictability of financial flows.” Finally, it said the NCQG is “a suboptimal decision with no clear commitment from the developed countries making it impossible to meet the NDCs set down by the developing countries. It specifically refers to Article 9.3 with the legal mandate under Article 9.1 going completely unaddressed. The decision we all know is being inadequate, incomplete with no discussion on 9.1 and no plan to address qualitative elements other than a call to all to do so. At best, it is a deflection of the responsibility of the developed countries.” Saudi Arabia for the Arab Group said the “quality aspect” of finance is as important as the “quantity aspect” for developing countries. It said quality refers “to whether climate finance is flowing towards developing countries parties in accordance with the needs and priorities outlined in NDCs and NAPs [national adaptation plans].” Adding further, it said, “Quantitatively, climate finance must be provided and mobilized at the necessary scale to address conditional targets set out in national plans.” It called means of implementation “the medium that translates” developing countries’ “objectives into realities” and stressed without sufficient means of implementation developing countries “would not be able to translate” their climate actions plans into reality. It highlighted “the importance of ensuring the affordable, transparent, adequate and predictable provision and mobilization of climate finance in line with Article 9.1 and 9.3 respectively.” It said “the provision of climate finance under Article 9.1 is a prerequisite to mobilisation under Article 9.3” and that “provision should aim to contribute and build towards the necessary enabling environments needed to ensure that finance could be mobilised to developing countries.” It pointed out that a majority of climate finance “is still concentrated in the global North while the global South remains significantly underserved”, and said that a significant shift is needed to ensure that climate finance flows to developing countries to help them achieve goals of sustainable development and poverty eradication. Highlighting the importance of public finance, it said “public support provided by developed country Parties is also a catalyst to creating enabling environments for the private sector to engage in developing countries.” It lamented that “the private sector is incentivized to move to the global North rather than the global South” and emphasized that “the private sector will not be able to cover nor replace public resources provided by developed country Parties through grant-based and highly concessional forms.” Regarding the issue of scaling up adaptation finance, it said at least 75% of the USD 300 billion goal set under NCQG should be “dedicated for adaptation to close the finance gap between adaptation and mitigation.” It said “dedicating reporting standards for adaptation” under Article 9.5 of the PA “would ensure predictability for planning and coordinating adaptation plans between developing countries. This should also include consideration of geographic balance, aligned with the diverse range of needs expressed by developing countries, guaranteeing dedicated and inclusive support for Parties.” Bangladesh for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) said climate finance is not a matter of negotiation, but rather “it is a matter of survival, justice, and dignity.” It highlighted “the importance of having a periodic report and assessment of the delivery of finance goals to developing countries” and pointed out that “different accounting approaches” and the “lack of definition of climate finance have made difficult to objectively assess progress against targets”. It said to further improve predictability and transparency, “developed countries could consider working together on a “climate finance delivery plan” and communicate their intended contributions and pathways toward achieving the at-least-USD 300 billion goal by 2035.” It called for targeted support for LDCs and Small Island Development States and encouraged developed countries to triple their pledges to the LDCs in the upcoming replenishment cycles of the Global Environment Facility. It underlined that finance for climate action should not increase the debt burden, and emphasized that “support for adaptation and loss and damage require support in the form of grants.” Belise for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) said there is a need to deliver more finance that is “predictable, transparent and at scale” to respond to the needs of those most vulnerable. It said developed countries must provide standardised forward looking information on climate finance for SIDS, including immediate next year estimates disaggregated for adaptation and loss and damage. This, it said would allow SIDS to plan their climate actions. It pointed to the need for UNFCCC’s climate Funds to urgently simplify procedures for direct access entities from SIDS and expand readiness support, and fast track small grant windows for building resilience. It said a robust replenishment of the UNFCCC’s Funds must lead to tripling of outflows, which is an obligation under the PA. Stressing the need for “action-oriented solutions”, it said developed countries must triple their collective provision of adaptation finance to developing countries by 2030 from 2025 levels reaching at last USD 120 billion per year. This, it said would help close the adaptation finance gap and ensuring parity with mitigation finance. It said there is a need for leveraging regional institutions to channel scale of finance efficiently and urgently. It also asked for support for regional insurance schemes and provision of direct access pathways, particularly for countries that lack regional support entities. Costa Rica for the Independent Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean States (AILAC) said it cannot afford uncertainty and undetailed information when it comes to climate finance flows needed to meet the goals of the PA. It said there is a need for a monitoring system that “tells us clearly whether we are on track to deliver USD300 billion annually.” It said countries are not able to plan and demonstrate their climate actions in the absence of sufficient provision of climate finance. It called Article 9.5 of the PA a “pillar of mutual trust and transparency” which helps developing countries to plan their NDCs and NAPs. It gave a call for a common framework and methodology for ex ante information and for regional communication of financial support to enhance predictability and traceability of resources. It said Article 9.5 should serve as the foundation of NCQG and feed directly into the design, monitoring and accountability aspects of it. Denmark for European Union (EU) said clear and consistent climate finance is required for higher climate action. This he said would help in building trust and demonstrate that developed countries are delivering on their commitments. It welcomed the NCQG decision as a “framework for scaling up climate finance from all sources” including public and private to deliver climate resilient pathways. It said “we are ready to take the lead with the expectation of others to follow.” It said the EU is committed to a balance between mitigation and adaptation and scaling up finance for adaptation, particularly for the most vulnerable such as LDCs and SIDS. It said there is a need to do more to address key areas and ensure better access. It expressed support for “ongoing work of the climate action funds” and said funds should reach communities to “enhance impact and efficiency.” It said the EU is actively moving on debt for climate swap projects. It also said that action is required at the domestic level and mentioned the need for country level investment strategies. It stressed that all Parties and partners have to come together to implement NCQG as a whole to accelerate the achievement of our collective goals of the PA.
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