More than 30 developing countries, including those in the Caribbean, are calling for a recapitalization
More than 30 developing countries, including those in the Caribbean, are calling for a recapitalization of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) in response to the worsening impact of climate change and sweeping finance gaps for low-carbon development.
The calls have come as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank get ready for their annual spring meetings that begin later this week.
In a joint statement, ministers representing countries on the frontlines of climate change, have said that while the CIF is, and should remain, a central multilateral institution in the global climate finance architecture, addressing mass migration, increased poverty rates, and other climate impacts requires “significant investment” from CIF and its partners in areas spanning resilience, energy transition and access, land use management, and sustainable cities.
Observers say mobilizing finance for climate action is a core development challenge and a multitrillion-dollar economic opportunity and closing the expansive gap in climate finance is vital to supporting developing countries in meeting their sustainable development objectives, avoiding global climate catastrophe, and seizing the rewards of a new climate economy.
It is also a priority area of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ Climate Summit in September of this year.
“Now is the time, not tomorrow, not next week, to direct all our energy, all our ingenuity, and all our resources toward reining in this crisis,” said the head of CIF, Mafalda Duarte, making reference to the joint statement by the developing countries that acknowledged unequivocally that CIF is an essential means to this end.
The countries have praised CIF’s tried-and-tested approach to climate finance, stressing the need to harness its comparative advantages and those of complementary multilateral climate funds, including the Green Climate Fund, to drive low-carbon and resilient development where it is needed most: in low and middle-income countries.
