Joint Statement at the World Climate Summit of the Multilateral Development Banks

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and other multilateral development banks (MDBs), which in 2021 jointly provided record levels of financing dedicated to supporting the green transition, have issued a forward-looking joint statement at CoP27, taking place these days in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The MDBs reaffirm in that declaration their commitment to expand their support to countries seeking financing to mitigate climate change and adapt to a warming planet.

Multilateral banks (MDBs) commit to addressing “in an integrated manner” the challenges of sustainable development, climate change and biodiversity loss. The declaration made public at CoP27 by these agents recognizes that, “on all continents, climate change is having increasingly serious environmental, social and economic impacts, posing a significant and urgent challenge to development and the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030”. Moreover, the MDBs are aware that “the current global context, characterized by multiple shocks, high risks and limited public resources, is exacerbating the challenge, particularly for developing countries.”

Well, given all this, the MDBs commit to maintaining “a vigorous momentum in climate action”, which in any case they know will require “all parties involved (governments, MDBs and actors from all of society) to work together in the development and implementation of impactful programs and projects, appropriate public policies and a significant increase in financing from multiple sources”.

The MDBs commit to scaling up support to countries and other clients to integrate climate mitigation and adaptation into their overall economic planning, ranging from long-term strategies and nationally determined contributions to sectoral and subsectoral transition pathways; policy formulation to stimulate systemic change; and the definition of investment plans and mobilization of sources of financing.

The MDBs, which are working with a growing number of countries, regions and cities to develop programmes that address climate mitigation, climate resilience and adaptation, and “nature-positive” needs, will prioritize the following lines:

• Implement measures to boost alignment with the Paris Agreements
• Integrate Just Transition efforts to ensure the green transition provides opportunities for all
• Boost financing for adaptation, especially for low-income countries, small island developing states and disadvantaged populations
• Supporting nature-related efforts, building on the 2021 Joint Declaration on Nature, People and Planet
• Increased concessional financing
• Expanding private sector mobilization
• Voluntary cooperative approaches, whereby MDBs support the development of instruments for, for example, the monetization of adaptation benefits or verified emission reductions

The Inter-American Development Bank reports

The MDBs, the main providers and channelers of climate finance globally, met ahead of schedule their collective expectation for 2025, formulated in 2019, to increase their financing volumes, as can be seen in their Joint Report on Climate Finance of the MDBs 2021.

Of its total climate finance last year, US$51 billion went to low- and middle-income countries, of which US$33 billion (65%) was for mitigation and US$18 billion (35%) for adaptation; $31 billion went to high-income countries, of which 95% was for mitigation and 5% for adaptation. Another $41 billion of private financing was mobilized globally. The MDBs have also worked together on a number of issues, such as the Paris Alignment approaches and updating their methodology for monitoring adaptation financing.

The MDB group that is collaborating to produce the MDB Joint Report on Climate Finance 2021 includes the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Council of Europe Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the New Development Bank, and the World Bank Group.

About the IDB

The Inter-American Development Bank’s mission is to improve lives. Founded in 1959, the IDB boasts of being “one of the main sources of long-term financing for the economic, social and institutional development of Latin America and the Caribbean.” The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research projects and provides policy advice, technical assistance and training to public and private clients throughout the region.

Source: Renewable Energies