DUBAI: Heads of multilateral development banks attending the 2023 global climate change conference, COP28, have committed to scaling resource mobilization to close the nature and water sector financing gap. The banks shared their views on what can be done differently to ensure that the world delivers on water, nature, and climate agendas. The high-level panel was moderated by Lord Zac Goldsmith, former UK Minister for Climate and Environment, and speakers included representatives from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Asian Development Bank, and the African Development Bank.

The IDB President, Ilan Goldfajn, shared the institution’s CLIMA pilot program, an innovative financial tool that provides grants to incentivize borrowers to achieve nature and climate objectives. The President of the Asian Development Bank, Masatsugu Asakawa, reinforced the need for the development community to lead in mobilizing partnerships that can generate new and additional financing. Dr. Beth Dunford, Vice President of Agriculture, Human and Social Development at the African Development Bank Group, urged urgent action to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 of “clean water and sanitation for all.”

Globally, water resources are dwindling, and impacts are intensifying due to increasing temperatures. By 2030, a quarter billion people will grapple with water scarcity, and by 2050, climate impacts could cost Africa $50 billion per year. Since 2010, the African Development Bank has invested an estimated $7.4 billion in water supply and sanitation services delivery, benefitting about 90 million people in Africa.

The African Development Bank has pledged to quadruple its financing for climate adaptation to reach $25 billion by 2025 through promoting climate-smart investments. The Bank will encourage private-sector funding, particularly for water treatment, recycling, and other components in the water value chain. It will also consider strategic debt relief programs like debt-for-nature swaps in return for a commitment from regional member countries to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure.

The meeting affirmed that there can be no sustainable future without urgent, systemic, and collective attention to the inextricable links between climate change, water crises, and biodiversity loss. Safeguarding water resources and biodiversity should be prioritized as they are crucial in climate strategies. Dr. Johan Rockstrom, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, delivered a keynote on “Rethinking the Financial Architecture for Water and Nature.” He called for collaboration in mobilizing finance advancing a conceptual framework and restructuring the overall financial architecture for climate, water, and nature.

The commitment of multilateral development banks to close the nature and water financing gap is a significant step towards achieving sustainable development goals. The African Development Bank’s pledge to quadruple its financing for climate adaptation is a welcome development that will promote climate-smart investments. The urgent, systemic, and collective attention to the inextricable links between climate change, water crises, and biodiversity loss is crucial in safeguarding water resources and biodiversity, which are fundamental supports to human well-being and economies.

(Image Source: African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

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The announcement coincides with the COP28 United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in Dubai. The growing participation in the program promises to greatly expand access to renewable energy in the semiconductor space. The first-of-its-kind program was first announced in July, with sponsors Intel and Applied Materials.

According to a recent study by the SEMI Semiconductor Climate Consortium, the semiconductor industry’s carbon footprint was equivalent to 500Mt of CO2 in 2021, with 16% coming from the supply chain. By transitioning suppliers onto lower-carbon sources of energy and supporting them in other decarbonization actions like electrification, the industry can make a significant impact on its overall Scope 3 emissions.

“We are delighted to welcome Google, ASM, and HP to the Catalyze program. Their decision to join supports the ambition to accelerate the decarbonization of supply chains,” said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman, of Schneider Electric. “Scope 3 emissions have proven a challenge to track and manage, but the Catalyze program enables companies and their suppliers to engage and collaborate in their energy transition and decarbonization.“

The Catalyze program strives to combine energy purchasing power across the semiconductor value chain to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy projects, provide suppliers with the opportunity to participate in the market for utility-scale power purchase agreements, enable any company that supplies to a Catalyze sponsor to join across the IT supply landscape, increase awareness of the availability of renewable energy in specific global regions where the semiconductor value chain is operational, and leverage numerous educational and digital technology platform engagements to drive measurable actions in supply chain decarbonization.

The growing participation in the Catalyze program promises to greatly expand access to renewable energy in the semiconductor space, to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint and overall Scope 3 emissions.

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Mission Innovation, a coalition of 23 governments and the European Commission, has committed to pioneering clean energy solutions through domestic action and international cooperation. The partnership with the EIB Group will help innovative companies develop and grow, strengthening Mission Innovation’s significant contribution towards the Paris Agreement goals and climate neutrality.

The EIB Group has extensive experience in building public-private partnerships and works closely with the European Commission and the private sector to share risks that private investors alone are not willing to take. The partnership with Mission Innovation builds on the fruitful cooperation with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation over the years.

The EIB Group’s Vice-President, Ambroise Fayolle, said that financing the technologies of tomorrow is key to reaching global climate goals, supporting economies’ competitiveness, and creating new jobs. The involvement of public multilateral development banks at the earliest stage is crucial, and the EIB Group is proud to join Mission Innovation to accelerate clean energy solutions for all.

The partnership between Mission Innovation and the EIB Group aligns perfectly with their shared commitment to driving clean energy innovation and achieving the objectives set out in the Paris Agreement. By combining their expertise and resources, they can increase their impact and accelerate the development and demonstration of innovative solutions.

In 2019, the EIB’s energy lending policy was adopted to end financing to any unabated fossil fuel energy projects, including natural gas, making it the first multilateral development bank to do so. In 2021, the EIB became the first multilateral development bank to align its financial activities with the Paris Agreement.

Through its Climate Bank Roadmap, the EIB Group aims to support EUR1 trillion of investment in climate action and environmental sustainability through the critical decade, 2021-2030. The EIB committed to increasing investment in climate action and environmental sustainability to more than 50% of the EIB’s annual lending by 2025, which was exceeded last year by 58%.

The partnership between the EIB Group and Mission Innovation is a critical part of the pathway for high-ambition missions to achieve their goals. The alliance between the two organizations is a testament to the importance of early-stage investment in clean energy technologies.

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The roundtable brought together dignitaries from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), the Rockefeller Foundation, and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), among others. The participants emphasized the scale of global climate change and its impact on communities around the world, highlighting the need for whole-of-society solutions.

The roundtable underlined the UAE COP Presidency’s four-pillar strategy to accelerate global climate action, by fast-tracking the energy transition, transforming climate finance, focusing on lives and livelihoods, and full inclusivity of the COP process. As a milestone COP, the Presidency will work to ensure that the world moves forward from COP28 with a clear, collective, collaborative, and inclusive plan of action that leaves no one behind.

Reinforcing the importance of collective action, international cooperation, and shared responsibility in addressing the pressing challenges posed by climate change, H.E. Dr. Abdulnasser Alshaali, the UAE Ambassador to India, stated, “The UAE is fully committed to playing a pivotal role in advancing climate action and fostering collaboration among nations as we head towards the first global evaluation of Paris COP21. India has been a valued partner to the UAE Presidency’s vision for COP, and today’s roundtable is a testament to our collective dedication to creating a resilient future for all by enabling an inclusive and solutions-oriented COP28.“

The roundtable discussions reaffirmed the COP28 UAE’s aim to disrupt business-as-usual climate approaches, unite around decisive action, and achieve game-changing results in an inclusive manner, bolstering the UAE’s call to the world to Unite. Act. Deliver.

The COP28 roundtable in New Delhi was held as a precursor to COP28, which will be held from November 30 to December 12, 2023

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