KfW experts participate in Paris UN Climate Conference

Expectations of the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference, which commences in Paris this Monday 30 November, are high. The two-week gathering will see the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiate a treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, in an effort to mitigate global warming. Among the many heads of state and government to meet on the very first day will be US President Barack Obama and his Chinese and Russian counterparts, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, as well as German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. Experts from KfW will also take an active part in various events to be held within the framework of the conference.

On 1 December Stephan Opitz, Member of the Management Committee of KfW Development Bank, will be chairing "Financing Cities in a Changing Climate", a KfW side event focusing on the particular changes and challenges faced by climate change financing in urban contexts. Ingrid-Gabriela Hoven, Director General for climate issues at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), will also be attending the event, as will high-level representatives of the French Development Agency AfD and the insurance industry. That same day Mr Opitz will sign mandate agreements with Norway and the UK for the innovative forest and climate protection programme "REDD for Early Movers". An agreement is also to be concluded with the Columbian government, providing the country with financial support as it endeavours to cut emissions by means of forest protection.

Mobilising private financial flows for climate protection

On 4 December Dr Jochen Harnisch, Head of KfW Development Bank’s Environment and Climate Competence Centre and the bank’s Sustainability Officer, will be hosting a side event entitled "Publicly mobilized private climate finance: implementation and tracking by DFIs". This discussion will explore how public investments can help mobilise additional flows of private finance into climate protection and climate adaptation. The eco.business fund, established by KfW, is a practical and innovative example of this. The fund will be launched at a third KfW side event to be held on 9 December in the pavilion of the European Union and chaired by Marc Engelhardt, Director, Department for Development and Sector Policies. This will also be attended by Karim ould Chih, the responsible project manager.

The majority of UNFCCC signatories, including major emerging market countries such as India, China and Brazil, have already set out publicly in so-called "Intended Nationally Determined Contributions" (INDCs) what they intend as nations to contribute to the achievement of climate protection goals. It has been estimated that the programmes that have been announced would limit global warming to 2.7°C by the year 2100. Negotiations will also take place over agreeing an overall global target for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, setting up mechanisms for verifying target achievement and, potentially, defining a more ambitious target.

Paris is not just about agreeing goals and means for lowering greenhouse gas emissions; it is also about negotiating how appropriate adaptation programmes can mitigate the impact of climate change. And we can expect lively debates about how climate protection and adaptation are to be financed in the future. To date, the international community has undertaken to make about USD 100 billion available for this purpose every year until 2020.