Veranstaltung im Rahmen des 7th IHDP Open Meeting 2009

Adaptation to climate change is an inevitable challenge, especially in developing countries. Recent calculations have shown that costs of adaptation and corresponding needs for financial support could be of the order of USD 80 billion per year in the next decade – a huge figure when compared to existing development cooperation finance.

How to meet the financial challenge of climate change is therefore one of the most pressing problems for the international community, and particularly for developed countries which have historically contributed most to the problem. Where should such finance be sourced from? And how can it best be delivered and sustained?

Public budgets as a source for funding adaptation are problematic for many reasons, including reduced scope for increasing funds for international cooperation and reduced public support for these issues in annual budget debates. Also, the UNFCCC states that adaptation funding should be new and additional, and developing countries understand this to mean that funding should be on top of ODA and the 0.7% target agreed for development cooperation. For this reason, a range of new international financing initiatives have been launched or proposed – some based on more traditional donor cooperation and other incorporating innovative financial instruments such as revenues generated by the European Emissions Trading System, bonds raised on international financial markets in a similar way to the Global Fund for Aids or private sector led initiatives.

Panelists:

• Walter Kennes, DG Development; Head of Sector Environment, Unit Sustainable management of natural resources (confirmed)
• Annett Möhner, UNFCCC Secretariat (confirmed)
• Neil Bird, Overseas Development Institute; Research Fellow (confirmed)
• N.N., South Centre (tbc)
• Karsten Sach, German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; Head of Department International Co-operation (tbc)