Politics Briefing
Green Growth Needs Liquidity
Closing Africa's Climate Finance Gap
Politics Briefing: Green Growth Needs Liquidity
February 9, 2023
German Bundestag, Berlin
With Vera Songwe
While Africa has historically contributed less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the continent is the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. At the same time, the international community is starting to recognize Africa as a source and role model of green energy generation and an important guardian of biodiversity, asking countries to foster green growth and preserve natural habitats.
Global climate change adaptation towards a low-carbon economy requires extensive financial resources ($4–6 tn per year according to the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan), which affected countries cannot leverage on their own. In addition to existing adaptation and mitigation commitments, COP27 ended with a historic pledge by heavy emitters to set up a loss and damage fund for vulnerable nations.
Economist Dr. Vera Songwe talks about how to unlock financial pledges and leverage climate finance for vulnerable nations
Dr. Karamba Diaby, Dr. Vera Songwe, and Dr. Ingrid Hamm at Politics Briefing „Green Growth Needs Liquidity”
Sustainable and effective climate finance draws from a multitude of financial instruments and incentives: reforming the international financial architecture and issuance of Special Drawing Rights, changing the narrative of Africa as an attractive investment destination, increasing the scale and scope of public guarantees, and enabling liquidity and affordable borrowing through concessional loans, credit ratings, grants, and access to Eurobonds and repo markets.
Central to the debates on climate finance at COP27 and beyond is a report by the Independent High-Level Expert Group, co-chaired by Dr. Vera Songwe, former Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and current Chair of the Liquidity & Sustainability Facility (LSF). A renowned authority and leader in the field, Dr Songwe gives an input and recommendations on how to unlock financial pledges and leverage climate finance for vulnerable nations.
Contact Persons
Rhoda Berger, r.berger@globalperspectives.org
Sabrina Rupprecht, s.rupprecht@globalperspectives.org
Politics Briefing
Politics Briefing foster professional dialogue with policymakers. This format is aimed particularly at members of the Bundestag, but also at political actors in government, ministries or political foundations.
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