São Paulo – This Tuesday (27th), the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) announced a partnership to showcase new, profitable forms of financing environment-friendly projects to governments, companies, investors and new organizations. The announcement was made at the 18th UN Climate Change Conference (COP18) in Doha, Qatar, where 194 diplomats from several countries are discussing cutting down greenhouse gas emissions.
According to a UNFCCC and WEF statement, the “Momentum for Change: Innovative Financing for Climate-Friendly Investment” project will showcase successful public-private financing mechanisms and approaches for backing climate change adaptation and mitigation-oriented projects. The program will be officially introduced on December 6th, one day prior to the COP 18 wrap-up.
The partnership integrates the "Momentum of Change" project, launched by the UNFCCC at the COP17 in Durban, South Africa, 2011. The initiative selects environment-friendly projects that have been created and implemented in developing countries and may be replicated in other countries. In its 2011 edition, “Momentum of change” presented successful projects implemented through public-private partnerships and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The nine projects to be showcased this year have already been selected. Among them is a non-pollutant brickyard in Peru, an electric bus system in Sri Lanka and an integrated bus system in Guangzhou, China, which replaces the subway.
UNFCCC executive secretary Christiana Figueres said the private sector faces obstacles when it comes to investing in sustainable projects because of the risks involved, and said the public sector can “unlock” private investment by establishing adequate policies so sustainable projects may be developed. “Given the scale of investment needed, the newness of technology solutions and the perception of risk that exists, the current level of investment is far too low,” she said.
According to the UNFCCC, developing countries will account for 60% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030. Therefore, projects must be implemented in those countries to use natural resources efficiently.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
