Why private investment cannot replace public finance in critical climate adaptation
Private finance has a vital role to play in the global response to climate change, but it is not a substitute for public finance.
Developed countries have committed to mobilizing $100 billion in climate finance per year by 2020 to support climate adaptation and mitigation in developing countries.
Reliance on private finance over public to meet these financing goals presents a triple whammy for pro-poor adaptation.
Private finance will struggle to meet the essential adaptation needs of poor and marginalized people; it overwhelmingly favours mitigation over adaptation; and it favours richer developing countries over less developed countries.
COP19 in Warsaw in November 2013 must turn ambiguity into action by advancing strategies to scale-up public finance for adaptation, and by providing assurances that commitments to critical support for the world’s poorest countries and communities over the coming years will be met.
Key recommendations from the report:
At COP 19:
- Parties must agree to secure a minimum of at least 50 per cent of all public climate finance for adaptation.
- All developed countries must set out what public climate finance they will provide over the period 2013–2015.
- Parties should agree on a global roadmap for scaling-up public climate finance from 2013 to 2020.
- Parties should agree on steps to progress alternative sources of public finance to supplement budget contributions by governments.
- Parties should agree to carry out a bottom-up assessment of needs for pre-2020 and post-2020 adaptation finance, including an assessment of the potential scale of public finance required.
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