* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
As leaders of major economies meet on April 22 to push for climate action, it is up to policymakers to ensure that the biggest emitters are the biggest committers
By Remy Rioux, a former Paris Agreement Negotiator and Chair of France’s Public Development Bank.
On April 22nd, leaders of the world’s major economies will convene for President Biden’s Earth Day Leaders’ Summit.
Ambitious new commitments will likely come out of the virtually-held meeting, with many nations expected to push climate action higher on their list of priorities. For its part, the Biden administration plans to announce plans for a significant reduction in America’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Similarly, members of the European Union have already agreed on a binding target for a net domestic reduction of 55% in emissions by 2030. China, which emits one-third of the world’s CO2, announced – along with other major Asian economies such as Japan and Korea – that they would also move towards carbon neutrality.
The summit, with its spotlight on sustainability and development, serves as a prelude to the United Kingdom hosting COP26 in Glasgow this November. John Kerry, President Biden’s Special Envoy for Climate, has already called it the world’s ‘last best chance’ to avert climate catastrophe.
As someone who sat at the negotiations table for the Paris Agreement, I have never felt more resolute. Yes, the world’s most powerful nations now have to significantly up the ante and prioritise a transition to clean energy. But lots of this work has already begun already at a state, city, institutional and citizen level, showcasing the strength of non-state-actors.
Because we still have far to go, and it is up to policymakers to ensure that the biggest emitters are the biggest committers. Rhetoric has to become reality. Targets need not only to be made but met, and a common ambition delivered upon so that nations of the Global South can see the benefits, too. We need to focus on development and recovery beyond their borders
In 2021, just like in 2015, finance holds the key. Public development banks (PDBs), which together hold $11 trillion in assets and account for more than 10% of all global investments each year, can make a significant impact on the world - by paving a path to a net zero economy and sustainable economic solutions across continents.
For instance, last year at the Finance in Common Summit (FICS), the world’s 450 PDBs gathered together for the first time ever. There, we affirmed our determination to collectively shift our strategies and investment patterns to match the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Since Covid-19, social challenges have only become more pressing, especially in Africa, where the crisis threatens to reverse the hard-fought gains of the past two decades and constrict the ability of the continent to foster green growth. Financing by development banks can address these fractures, while strengthening social cohesion and increasing sustainable economic outputs. The International Development Finance Club, which I chair, has pledged to provide $1 trillion of climate finance by 2025.
In the run up to President Biden’s summit, the U.S. is playing post-Trump era catch-up. It is no coincidence that at the same time, there is momentum growing behind public financial instruments in America as well. At the state level, California are breathing life into the public bank movement and at the federal level discussions continue around a Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator Act. The UK, meanwhile, made two major environmental pledges driven by finance: the creation of a new UK infrastructure bank in Leeds to fund at least £40 billion worth of public and private projects; and a plan to issue at least £15 billion of green government bonds, to help fund the country’s transition to net zero by 2050.
As we move closer to a Covid-19 crisis close, we cannot fall back into old habits in a desperate attempt for a quick return to ‘normal’. Developed countries are responsible for following through on the promises made on the annual flow of 100 billion dollars. The Finance in Common movement of all public development banks will help define a bigger and systemic ambition for climate finance by COP26.
