COP28 Finance Day Unlocks Innovative Financial Mechanisms To Support Vulnerable Countries Fight Climate Change
The UK, France, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), European Investment Bank (EIB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and African Development Bank (AfDB) made new commitments to expand Climate-Resilient Debt Clauses (CRDCs) in their lending. In total 73 countries joined a call to action to donors to expand the use of these clauses by 2025.
These commitments support countries to deal with climate shocks by ensuring they have fiscal space to invest in climate action. These are key elements of the COP28 UAE Declaration on the Global Climate Finance Framework to make climate finance available, accessible, and affordable.
Japan and France announced a commitment to support the African Development Bank’s facility to leverage Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) for climate and development.
“I’ve said all along that if we fail to include the developing world in our solutions to climate change we will all fail. The announcement of new SDR pledges for Africa, and the broad adoption of climate resilient debt clauses is essential. It will help those most vulnerable to the shocks and disasters caused by climate change.” COP28 President Dr. Sultan Al Jaber said.
“I want to thank you for the extraordinary courage to do the right thing. We can always bring back our debt, but we cannot bring back our society,” said Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, welcoming the announcements during COP28 Finance Day.
Source: Zawya