By: Staff Writer
December 5, 2023
The Prime Minister of Barbados urged leaders at this year’s COP28 Conference in Dubai that the world needs a global governance mechanism to ensure that the climate change fight is not fought in silos or subsections of the global economic framework.
Mia Mottley, said at the COP28 Presidency Press Conference that: “The world needs a governance mechanism to facilitate the interdependence that we now see globally. And without that it is like having a country that will not enforce its powers of governance on parts of the country. And therefore, if you’re only governing a part of the country, you’re leaving the rest exposed, the planet needs global governance, not in a big stick way, but in a simple way of us cooperating with each other, to be able to work with the institutions that we have.”
Ms Mottley was speaking to the lack of coordination between governments on allocating climate financing for developing countries. She also gave “thanks” that there was not a recapitalisation of the Green Climate Fund, but there was the UAE establishing the Alterra Fund at $30bn with a view to scaling it up to $250bn.
Alterra’s main goal will be to focus on climate investments in emerging markets and developing economies, where studies have shown an ever increasing funding deficit. The World Bank estimates that the growing gap to fund the climate transition equates to the difference between the $100bn annually committed by donor countries and the more than $2.4tr needed per year by 2030.
Urging for private funding to be made available as “critical, “and to “not bury our heads in the sand,” she noted: “But we all know that there are a number of things that need to be done to make that fair and level.”
She added: “Unless we lower and level the cost of debt to the Global South, we’re going to continue with countries not being able to benefit in real terms, which means deconstructing the foreign exchange risk and trying to put a proper price on it, rather than overcharging it, deconstructing the unconscious bias, and we all know it still exists.”
Along with sovereigns, banks and the credit ratings agencies “need to be brought back to the table,” in these climate finance discussions because without their efforts any chance at marshalling climate financing is going to be difficult.
Ms Mottley added: “Why are these things urgent? Because the destination is not finance, the destination is actually adaptation, the destination is actually recovery from loss and damage, the destination is actually mitigation..” and is why a global methane agreement is necessary and not merely voluntary compliance.
While there are 50 big oil and gas companies at the table, significant companies like Chevron have still not stepped up to the plate. “Therefore, unless there is a global methane agreement that is compulsory, we’re not going to get where we need to go.”