COP30: On Financing, the Time for Negotiation Is Over
“What agreement will the negotiators reach?” is the question that is usually on climate practitioners’ minds at this time of the year. However, this time, it is a new impetus that is needed, not another agreement. 10 years after the Paris Agreement, the Brazilian COP30 presidency has rightly shifted the focus to execution, making this edition “the implementation COP.” On financing, the objectives set at COP29 are clear: developing countries should receive $300 billion per year by 2035 from developed countries (NCQG), and mobilise $1.3 trillion per year from all actors. The newly published “Baku to Belém” roadmap proposes solutions to meet the targets. We now have objectives and a list of (theoretical) means to achieve them. How do we move to implementation?
The paper we are releasing this week, co-authored with Paul Watkinson, outlines how to shift the focus from objectives to action. First, countries should lay out the financial equation that they need to solve (e.g. using financing plans), and should aim to strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation where possible. Second, the reform of the international financial architecture should be pursued, particularly regarding the critical role of public development banks — unilateral, regional, and, above all, national. Finally, improving both the quantity and quality of the North-South and South-South transfers is a necessity. These financing flows which draw primarily from the official development assistance budgets of developed countries — currently declining — can also be fueled by innovative mechanisms, such as global solidarity contributions. A working group co-chaired by Kenya, Barbados, and France is expected to present progress on this issue at COP30, and we will shortly publish a report aiming to inform the debates on the allocation of global solidarity levies.
Even though the implementation of the transition will take place at the national level, the COP and the UNFCCC processes have a key role to play in generating positive momentum. In the current tense international context, hardly conducive to multilateralism, these forums can provide mechanisms for cooperation between stakeholders (such as the Circle of Finance Ministers created by the COP30 Presidency), as well as frameworks for transparency to monitor the measures implemented by governments. Finally, they can and should serve to champion and share the concrete progress made by some countries, rebutting the suggestion that financing the transition is a challenge that cannot be overcome.
