COP27 only delivered one part of the climate finance puzzle, namely a Loss and Damage Fund. Developed countries need to step up their efforts to repay the climate debt so all countries are able to pursue sustainable development.

The UN Climate Conference (COP27) is currently taking place in Egypt. Tackling climate change requires a global effort; so it is crucial that the quality and quantity of international climate finance for countries in the global south is strengthened. Two key markers of success at COP27 are whether countries agree to a Loss and Damage Finance Facility, and whether the post-2025 climate finance goal will cover loss and damage.

Ahead of the UN climate conference (COP27) - the first to take place in Africa for five years - European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers have published their 2022 Climate Diplomacy priorities. These priorities help us understand the level of EU ambition, and the direction the bloc will take in various negotiating spheres throughout the year.

Eurodad experts analyse how COP26 failed to deliver on climate finance, loss and damage and adaptation.

Analysis of the 2019 Climate Finance data released by the OECD shows developed countries are still falling short of meeting the US$ 100 billion per year climate finance goal. 

The remaining months of 2021 are crucial for the future of our humanity. The multiple and interrelated crises that we face call for an even greater level of unprecedented and truly multilateral action.

Faced with the crisis of the century, the G20 has failed to meet the demands of the moment. As the Saudi Arabian presidency comes to a close, Eurodad policy experts take a critical look at what has been delivered.

Climate action cannot stop, despite the cancellation of high-level climate meetings due to Covid-19. When the time comes to rebuild our economies, we must focus on achieving the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.

“Climate disruption is approaching a point of no return [...] We must act decisively to protect our planet from both the coronavirus and the existential threat of climate disruption.”

BBC News 

2020 starts the ten-year countdown for the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. It is also a critical period for a just response to climate change, ensuring that those who are the least responsible do not pay the greatest price.

The new European Commission is sending a clear signal by tabling a “Green New Deal” within a month of its inception. But to be a true statement of intent rather than a mere public relations manoeuvre, it must speak to the urgency for action.  

The debate about a Green New Deal has recently been reinvigorated in both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, the Green New Deal is part of the priorities of the European Commission’s President-elect Ursula von der Leyen. And at the UN in New York last month, sustainable development was featured in a series of global Summits, including the Climate Action Summit. In response, UNCTAD used the momentum to  launch the 2019 edition of the Trade and Development Report (TDR) which analyses the new deal from a financing perspective, identifies constraints and outlines innovative financing options. 

Following the European elections in May, former German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen has assumed the role of President-elect of the European Commission. In July, von der Leyen, the first woman to take this post, released a concept paper titled “A Union that strives for more” and on Tuesday this week she unveiled the names of the new Commissioners.  And with these releases, the policy agenda of the next European Commission, mandated to govern until 2024, is slowly taking shape. In response, we ask what are the implications for development finance?   

The United Nations convened in New York last week for the Financing for Development Forum. While the outcome document has been negotiated in advance, the Forum itself offered lots of opportunities to discuss what change we need to finance the sustainable development goals. 

When the global financial crisis broke, the world looked to the G20 to find solutions. But as G20 leaders recently gathered in Buenos Aires 10 years on for their 2018 Summit, it was all too clear that ‘too big to fail banks’ have grown even bigger while we’re stuck with a vastly expanded shadow banking industry and a very worrying new wave of debt crises. Even though the G20 consider themselves to be the world’s major body for economic policy coordination, they are sleepwalking into the next crisis.