Stiell says climate finance continues to be “elephant in every negotiating room”
India’s G20 Presidency is an opportune moment to push for the “very strong political signal” to set the ambition expectation for COP28 and the Global Stocktake, says Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“We are coming to the end of the technical phase of the Global Stocktake. But it is the following phase, the political piece, that requires elevation. It can only be affected by the political will and the support of all parties,” he said at a high-level session on COP28 Compass at the World Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi on 24 Feb 2023.
“In terms of moving the needle and within the G20, it is an opportune moment with India taking on the presidency,” observed Stiell at ‘Towards Equity and Climate Justice’, a high-level session on COP28.
The Executive Secretary noted that while the Global Stocktake, which is set to conclude at COP28 in UAE this year, is an opportunity to look at “where we are and where we are not”, and is more importantly, “an opportunity to course correct”.
“The response to the Global Stocktake has the greatest value. We are far from where we need to be,” Stiell stressed.
Addressing the critical issue of climate finance, Stiell highlighted that it continues to be “elephant in every negotiating room”.
He pointed out that COP29 will be a finance COP where the delivery of the new, collective quantified goal on finance where “the billions are supposed to transform into the trillions” will be deliberated upon.
Steill added that a lot of work still needs to be done on the Loss and Damage Fund agreed upon at COP27.
COP28 has to make significant progress on the Loss and Damage Fund, noted Jennifer Morgan, State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action, Federal Foreign Office, Germany.
The focus will be on structuring the governance of the new fund and attracting innovative ways to finance it, she added.
On the US$100 billion goal, Morgan underlined, “It is clear the US$100 billion have to be met. We have to perform.”
Moderating the discussion, RR Rashmi, Distinguished Fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), highlighted the need to evolve a framework for the upcoming COP28 where the focus is on Global Goal on Adaptation, Climate Finance and Global Stocktake.
Emphasizing that COP28 should make real and tangible progress on substance, not just on process, Siddharthan Balasubramanian, Senior Advisor, ClimateWorks Foundation, said, “I hope COP28 can withstand, wither away the shocks and deliver and focus on climate action.”
Dr Henning Wuester, Director, Initiative for Climate Action Transparency, said that transparency is “actually a leadership issue. Transparency is critical for the Global Stocktake. Without good data and sound information the Global Stocktake cannot really deliver.”
Janos Pasztor, Executive Director, Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative, asserted, “The number one priority remains to reduce the risks of temperature overshoot taking place by accelerating the pace and size of the massive and transformational emission reduction required, coupled with increasing removal of carbon from the atmosphere.”
TERI and the UNFCCC also signed a Letter of Intent to collaborate on initiatives such as the World Sustainable Development Summit. fiinews.com
