Excellencies,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for the kind invitation to address green financing to meet the Paris Agreement targets and the Sustainable Development Goals. I commend the Government of Chile for organizing this important event.
With less than a decade left to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we are at a make-or-break moment.
The COVID-19 pandemic is threatening decades of development gains. It is delaying the urgent transition to greener, more inclusive economies, and throwing progress on the SDGs even further off track. Moreover, we are way off track to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C to fulfil the promise of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Capitalizing on green investment opportunities, and mobilizing green financing, are key to deliver on both the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement.
Allow me to highlight a few key areas where we need to focus our efforts.
First: Lack of progress remains on both public and private green finance. To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, green finance will need to grow considerably.
According to the OECD, up to US 90 trillion dollars will be needed, between 2015 and 2030, to finance the global sustainable development and climate objectives.
A scale-up of green investments can help address climate change, foster economic growth, and job creation. However, public spending alone will not suffice. The majority of investment must come from the private sector.
It is therefore important to align the financial system – banking, capital markets and insurance – with sustainable development.
We have a lot of work to do. For example, the green bonds issued to-date amount to about US$1 trillion. This represents only 1 percent of the total global bond market, worth around US$100 trillion.
UNEP estimates that only 18% of the announced COVID-19 recovery spending can be considered ‘green.’ Policymakers must continue to strengthen enabling frameworks, to grow green finance for sustainable investment.
Second: Investing in development multipliers needs to be at the forefront.
Investments in green energy, green transportation, green building, and green research and development can all deliver positive multiplier effects. The Second Global Sustainable Transport Conference, held in Beijing last month, demonstrated huge potential benefits associated with investing in sustainable transport systems.
Third: Worldwide investment for the global clean energy transition will need to triple over the next ten years. We must get the world on track to achieve SDG 7 by 2030, and net-zero emissions by 2050.
A priority should be placed on ensuring universal access to electricity, and clean cooking by 2030 – with a focus on supporting the least developed countries. We need to shift subsidies away from fossil fuels, and towards renewables and energy efficiency investments. We need to stop financing new coal-fired power plants.
Indeed, the recent High-level Dialogue on Energy catalysed an unprecedented level of voluntary commitments, for universal energy access and energy transition.
More than 150 Energy Compacts, amounting to over US$ 400 billion dollars in investment, aim to provide hundreds of millions of people with clean energy access. This will speed the Energy transition while creating green jobs to leave no one behind.
Fourth: spending more on adaptation and resilience is vital to protect people from climate disruption. That is why 缅北禁地Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for allocating, at least half of climate finance, to adaptation and resilience.
Fifth: We need to see adequate international support from developed countries. This can help developing countries to leapfrog over the traditional course of development, and transition to a clean, sustainable energy pathway.
$100 billion a year from public and private sources, for mitigation and adaptation for the developing world, is the bare minimum. Much more will be needed.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let us, together, accelerate this momentum towards a sustainable and equitable world, which truly leaves no one behind.
I thank you.