The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) saw a record amount of climate finance pledges from developed countries.
This is a significant step forward in the fight against climate change, as it will provide the much-needed resources to developing countries to mitigate the impacts of climate change and transition to clean energy.
Here is a breakdown of the key climate finance pledges made at COP28:
The United Arab Emirates, the COP28 host, made the largest single commitment of $30 billion in a new fund to finance climate-friendly projects worldwide, with $5 billion going toward the Global South.
The World Bank announced it wants to boost climate support to 45 percent of all loans, or an additional $9 billion a year.
To combat climate change, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) also announced that it will allocate more than $2 billion yearly to the region until 2030.
According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), between 2024 and 2029, $10 billion will be invested in the Philippines’ climate.
Japan and France said they would back a plan by the African Development Bank and Inter-American Development Bank to leverage IMF Special Drawing Rights for climate and development.
UAE banks pledged to mobilise around $270 billion, in green finance.
Charitable donors including the Bezos Earth Fund joined forces with the World Bank’s private investment arm in a climate financing venture to try to generate $11 billion in investments in developing countries.
Loss And Damage
After agreeing to a deal on the first day of the event to launch a fund to help poorer countries deal with the impacts of climate change, total contributions by Wednesday amounted to $726 million.
Among the countries to contribute were Italy with 100 million euros and the Netherlands with 15 million euros.
Green Climate Fund
The world’s largest international fund dedicated to supporting climate action in developing countries received pledges of $3.5 billion in the opening days of the event, including fresh funding from the United States.
Renewable Energy
Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners said it would look to raise $3 billion for a new fund focused on building renewable energy projects from scratch in emerging and middle-income countries.
Technology
The Middle East and North Africa-focused multilateral lender the Arab Energy Fund said it would invest up to $1 billion over the next five years in decarbonisation technologies.
The United States gave multilateral lender Climate Investment Funds (CIF) a $568 million loan to its Clean Technology Fund (CTF) to support the development of low-carbon technologies in emerging and developing economies.
Methane
The UAE, with a contribution of $100 million, was among the backers of a new World Bank methane trust fund, which is meant to help reduce flaring and emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas.
Nearly a dozen philanthropies said they would invest $450 million over the next three years to help countries launch national actions to tackle methane.
Food
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UAE pledged a combined $200 million to help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia build resilience and adapt to climate change.
Read also: Nigeria at COP28: Separating the facts from fiction
Nature
Brazil’s national development bank launched a $205 million effort to restore degraded or destroyed woodland in the Amazon totalling 60,000 square km (23,160 square miles) by 2030.
Health
The UAE and several charities offered $777 million in financing for eradicating neglected tropical diseases that are expected to worsen as temperatures climb.
Disaster Relief
The World Bank said it would broaden the scope of Climate Resilient Debt Clauses – which pauses debt repayments when natural disasters strike – in its loans to cover all existing World Bank loans for the most vulnerable countries.
The UAE, Britain, Germany and the United States were among the countries to contribute over $300 million to a new climate disaster fund.
