PRESS RELEASE: Governments, private sector and civil society work towards
developing common understanding of how to
scale up mobilization of
long-term climate finance
read the release on our website:
<
http://unfccc.int/files/press/press_releases_advisories/application/pdf/pr20121107_ltf_workshop.pdf>
(Bonn, 11 July 2012) – Meeting in Bonn this week, governments, major
financial institutions, private sector entities and civil society moved
closer towards developing a common understanding of how to go about
significantly scaling up the mobilization of long-term finance which
developing countries need to help them limit greenhouse gas emissions and
adapt to climate change.
The three-day event, which ended today, was the first of two transparent,
interactive UNFCCC workshops on long-term climate change finance this year.
They were requested by governments as part of a work programme on
long-term
climate finance agreed at the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban at the
end of 2011 (COP 17/ CMP 7).
"It is clear that we cannot continue to tackle climate change with old
solutions, and that no one single source is going to be appropriate or
sufficient to mobilize climate finance at a speed and scale that would
allow people in developing countries to build their own climate-resilient
futures. This event has allowed all stakeholders to think outside the box,
to explore options in highly creative ways, and to pave the way for
stronger climate action," said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana
Figueres.
At the workshop, the main issues discussed in detail included the scale of
finance-related needs of developing countries, potential sources of climate
finance in the longer-term, innovations and options for mobilizing climate
finance from multiple sources and lessons learnt from
fast-start-finance.
"The technical and analytical discussions initiated here in Bonn paved the
way for identifying options to scale up finance for fighting climate
change. We are looking forward to presenting the Co-chairs' report to COP
18 in Doha at the end of the year," said long-term finance Co-Chair Zaheer
Fakir.
The event was made accessible to all interested stakeholders with the help
of live webcast, social media and an online platform on the UNFCCC website
by which stakeholders could send in material and put questions to the two
Chairs. More than 1,000 messages, comments and questions relating to the
workshop were sent via Twitter using the #LTFchat hashtag or posted on
Facebook.
"The role of all stakeholders in mobilizing climate finance is absolutely
crucial. Because of that, we tried to make the workshop as transparent and
inclusive as possible. We achieved this objective and intend
to
continuously draw in relevant stakeholders in an interactive fashion
throughout the year," said long-term finance Co-Chair Georg Børsting.
Furthermore, webinars and e-fora will be organised between the two
workshops, and stakeholders can continue to put questions to the Chairs and
post comments via the UNFCCC online platform and social media.
A total of 140 government officials, public and private finance sector
representatives and members of civil society and academia took part in the
debates. The discussions were based on extensive analytical work, including
the UN Secretary-General's High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change
Financing and the G20 report on mobilizing climate finance.
All of the workshop documents, presentations and the on-demand webcast will
be made available at:
<
http://unfccc.int/cooperation_support/financial_mechanism/long-term_finance/items/6814.php>
UNFCCC's Facebook event page on long-term climate finance:
<
http://www.facebook.com/events/403420139704081/>
For further enquiries, please send an email to: longtermfinance
(at)
unfccc.intSee also: <
http://unfccc.int/press/items/2794.php>
About the UNFCCC
With 195 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 1997
Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by 193 of the UNFCCC
Parties. Under the Protocol, 37 States, consisting of highly industrialized
countries and countries undergoing the process of transition to a
market
economy, have legally binding emission limitation and reduction
commitments. The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize
greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will
prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.
Follow UNFCCC on Twitter: @UN_ClimateTalks
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres on Twitter: @CFigueres
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