Nov 21, 2022
“By honoring the pledges we made in Glasgow, we can turn our struggle against climate change into a global mission for new jobs and clean growth. And we can bequeath our children a greener planet and a more prosperous future. That’s a legacy we could be proud of.” With these words, on the very first day of COP27, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced GBP65 million in funding for the Climate Investment Funds’ (CIF) Nature, People and Climate Investment Program. This support kicked off two action-packed weeks of exciting announcements, discussions and bilateral meetings for CIF at COP27.
Dubbed ‘The implementation COP’, Sharm-El-Sheik homed in on climate finance, with the CIF team spotlighting industry decarbonization, nature-based solutions, youth, gender and Indigenous empowerment, and just energy transitions while participating in more than 30 events and countless bilateral meetings.
Industry Decarbonization
"Human life is at risk now. () We lose 15 million people a year to the poor quality of air around the world."
John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate
Right from the onset, the Leaders Dialogue placed industry decarbonization at the heart of COP27. On November 8, Mafalda Duarte, CEO of the Climate Investment Funds, joined John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, Børge Brende, World Economic Forum President, John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the US President, and private sector executives from the IT, cement, renewable energy, and automotive sectors. Together they announced progress on the First Movers Coalition (FMC), a collection of global companies committing $12bn to decarbonize the heavy industry and long-distance transport sectors. On that day, the cement and concrete sector, responsible for about 7% of global emissions, made public their commitment to the FMC.
In her remarks, Mafalda explained that industrial emissions are concentrated in developing countries and are set to rise. She highlighted the urgency of working with these emerging economies, leveraging concessional finance to spur innovation in hard to abate industries before inefficient technologies get locked in.
Nature-Based Solutions
On COP’s Finance Day, CIF announced the first group of partner countries to participate in the Nature, People and Climate (NPC) program. NPC provides concessional funding to low- and middle-income countries to pilot and scale nature-based solutions to the climate crisis.
Egypt, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Kenya, and Africa’s Zambezi River Basin, were selected as the first NPC partner countries and regions. Zambia, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Namibia, and Brazil will also receive support for investment plan preparations, in anticipation of receiving further contributions.
During the event, CIF’s CEO Mafalda Duarte shared that all these countries are in the frontlines of the climate crisis and can greatly benefit from nature-based solutions support. For example, Fiji and the Dominican Republic can cultivate mangroves that have been disappearing to better protect coastal communities from storm surges. Egypt can begin to address the crucial challenge of decreasing food production along the Nile and promote sustainable agriculture practices. The Dominican Republic can reduce methane emissions from rice production. Kenya can safeguard vital water towers and offer a resilient future to its Indigenous and Tribal communities. And Africa’s Zambezi River basin countries can maintain valuable ecosystem services that support food security and economic development and build resilience to climate change.
Empowering Youth, Women and Indigenous Peoples
CIF provides direct financing to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities to sustainably manage natural resources, restore land access, and fight climate change using local and traditional knowledge through its Dedicated Grant Mechanism (DGM). This successful model was featured as best practice during an event at the COP27 Indigenous Pavilion where Paul Hartman, our Senior Environmental Specialist, shared lessons learned with DGM partners from Brazil and Burkina Faso. He was also able to discuss DGM on Biodiversity Day at an event celebrating endorsers of locally led adaptation.
Just Energy Transitions
On the heels of a CIF governing board decision on the first two CIF Accelerating Coal Transition investment plans for South Africa and Indonesia, the CIF team continued to advocate for just energy transitions at COP27.
This started with Mafalda Duarte joining Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi, African Development Bank Group President Akinwumi Adesina, US Presidential Envoy Rick Duke, and Tony Blair on November 8 to discuss the Southern Africa energy transition, specifically the case of Mozambique. Discussions around energy transition tend to focus on high emitting countries, but the panel agreed that we must support emerging economies who need increased energy access to ensure polluting technologies do not get locked in.
“Right now, if you take the 81 most energy poor countries, they are responsible for about 8% of emissions, but if you fast forward to 2050, these countries, if things don’t change, will be responsible for 75% of emissions. So, we have to make sure that we are in a position to allow countries like Mozambique to develop with clean energy, but that can’t happen unless they have partners that are prepared to help them get there.”
Tony Blair, Executive Chairman, The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
Abhishek Bhaskar shared CIF’s expertise on establishing and implementing Just Energy Transition Partnerships at a roundtable discussion on efforts to retire coal in Southeast Asia. The event was hosted by the Southeast Asia Energy Transition Partnership (ETP).
And, of course, CIF’s contribution on just transitions culminated on Energy Day, with Daniel Morris participating in four events, notably focusing on Africa, Türkiye, the South-Eastern Mediterranean region.
As COP27 drew to a close, this theme stayed at the top of CIF’s agenda, as Mafalda Duarte joined the G20 summit in Indonesia, contributing to discussions and announcements on concrete steps for a transition away from coal at the Grand Launching of the Indonesia Energy Transition Mechanism Country Platform.