Cop 27: EBRD says climate plan key to finance access

Clear country-level strategy for dealing with climate change is key to accessing climate finance, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Odile Renaud-Basso told delegates at the UN Cop 27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Wednesday.

The process for accessing climate finance from multilateral development banks such as the EBRD will always be slowed down by the stringent requirements requested by stakeholders, which require time-consuming studies, Renaud-Basso said.

But there are also country-level and local barriers to climate finance access, and having a clear strategy to deal with both mitigation and adaptation is "fundamental".

"The more you have clarity on what is the plan, what is the strategy, the better it will be for access and to also attract financing, private investors, because then they know the direction and what they can expect," Renaud-Basso said.

There should be a shift from "project-by-project" to a "more global and strategic approach" to climate financing, Renaud-Basso added.

A more "programmatic" approach to climate finance is "really important" to access available capital, agreed head of the OECD's environmental directorate Jo Tyndall.

The $100bn goal is a "tiny fraction" of what is needed for the global transformation, Tyndall said — "more of a pump primer than an end target in itself."

Bridging this gap will require a "major reorientation of available public finance to effectively tap the stocks of private capital that are increasingly in search of Paris [climate agreement]-aligned investments. We know there's no shortage of capital out there."

Tyndall pointed to the $700bn spent last year on fossil fuel subsidies. "That could go a long way towards the $1tn that is needed to help developing countries transition to net zero."

Germany's special envoy for international climate action, Jennifer Morgan, pointed to the significance for the climate finance process of ending fossil fuel investments. "Grants are important… but we also need to be looking at how we actually phase out financing for all fossil fuels."

Morgan called for a "really proper conversation" about Article 2.1c of the Paris climate agreement — a key article for climate finance which sets a goal to make finance flows consistent with low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development. She added that it "doesn't get the attention that it needs".

EU principal adviser for international aspects of EU climate policy Jacob Werksman said [earlier today that the EU was disappointed that discussions on the Article 2.1c](https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2389359) were not added to the Cop 27 agenda.

"There is a larger architecture of financial institutions and private-sector where we know [financial] resources are," he said. "We want to make sure that all economic support from both the private and public sector are in line with commitments under the Paris Agreement", he added.

By Victoria Hatherick