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COP27 Finance Day: In Review

  • Publish Date: Posted over 1 year ago
  • Author:by MERJE

COP27 took place in Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh in November where Heads of State, ministers, negotiators and activists gathered to discuss climate action.

The purpose of the conference was to build on the outcomes of last year’s COP26 by tackling an array of issues critical to the climate emergency, such as the growing energy crisis, record greenhouse gas concentrations and increasing extreme weather events.

One of the key events on the agenda was Finance Day on November 9, designed to drive public and private finance for the countries and economies that are most vulnerable to climate change in order to build resilience.

So, without further ado, here’s a round-up of what happened throughout the day.

To summarise:

  • Finance Day at COP27 placed focus on banks, investors and insurers

  • UN experts flagged dozens of climate projects worth $120 bn

  • Raft of nations pledged support to emerging economies

UN experts published a list of projects worth $120 billion that investors could back to help poorer countries cut emissions and adapt to the impacts of global warming.

A $3 billion water transfer project between Lesotho and Botswana and a $10 million plan to improve the public water system in Mauritius were among dozens of initiatives listed, 19 of which were in Africa.

In a bid to answer the argument by private sector financiers that it's too risky to invest more in emerging markets, the experts, who help the COP host-governments engage with business, pulled together a list of projects that could be funded more quickly.

This came after a year of meetings with stakeholders around the world so that banks and others can assess the projects and collaborate between project developers and public, private and concessionary finance to unlock this investment potential and turn assets into flows.

And among a clutch of separate deals announced on the day, Egypt said it had signed partnerships for its Nexus of Water-Food-Energy (NWFE) programme to support the implementation of climate projects with investments worth $15 billion.

France and Germany also signed loan agreements to extend 300 million euros ($300.69 million) in concessional financing to South Africa to support its shift away from coal-fired power.

Italy, Britain and Sweden were among donors to pledge more than $350 million to finance nature-based solutions to the climate crisis in countries including Egypt, Fiji, Kenya and Malawi.

A group of over 85 African insurers also pledged to provide $14 billion of cover to help the continent's most vulnerable communities deal with climate disaster risks such as floods and droughts.

US climate envoy John Kerry announced the creation of a carbon offset plan, dubbed the Energy Transition Accelerator, which aims to help developing countries raise cash to fund their transition away from fossil fuels.

Getting money to low and middle income countries so they can build new infrastructures, such as renewable energy plants, has long been a focus for the UN climate talks. But progress has been slow because they require technical and financial help to get to a position where they can attract the right kind of funding.

World Bank President David Malpass addressed delegates on the day, running through the institution’s climate efforts and involvement in a partnership under which Western nations would provide $8.5 billion to South Africa for its energy transition.

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