1A: Climate Finance
Title: Mobilising Climate Finance for Mitigation and Adaptation – Challenges and Innovation for Solutions
Lead: Kit England (Green Economy Manager, Glasgow City Council)
Overview: With the economic costs of climate change having been shown to be affordable, and the benefits of mitigating and adapting clearly established, attention has shifted over the last ten years to the availability of financing for implementing mitigation and adaptation solutions. Glasgow has just been appointed European Ambassador for the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance, a network of value chains which seeks to overcome these challenges. This session will provide an overview of the challenges facing cities and organisations in mobilising mitigation and adaptation finance, and showcase innovative solutions from actors across the value chain in making it happen.
Agenda:
10:45 Welcome: Sumalee Khosla, U.N. Development Programme
10:50 Session 1: Michael Mullan, Programme Lead: Adaptation Finance and Investment, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Finance flows need to be aligned to the needs of a net zero, climate-resilient society. The need for this is clearly recognised by the Paris Agreement, but how can we turn this ambition into practice? Michael will present on the importance of achieving greater alignment, including developments on measuring and enhancing alignment to net zero. He will present new work on defining adaptation with climate resilience, so that we can ensure that the annual trillions of new investment enhance resilience, rather than locking-in vulnerability.
11:05 Session 2: Overview of City Finance Challenges – [REPRESENTATIVE TBC], Climate Policy Initiative.
Mobilising climate finance into mitigation and adaptation in cities is challenging. The Climate Policy Initiative will set the context for the session by sharing findings from its recent report: The 2021 State of Cities Climate Finance, which examines the current state of urban climate investment, the barriers to reaching the needed investment levels, and the steps to overcoming these challenges.
11:20 Session 3: The Glasgow Green Deal – an example of emerging, whole city, Paris-aligned finance approaches - Kit England, Green Economy Manager, Glasgow City Council.
Whilst the majority of the net zero transition will be provided by private finance, to mobilise it, and to address adaptation goals, cities will need to think holistically about the blend of public and private sources for the entire transition, and adopt ambitious and creative strategies. Kit will present an overview of Glasgow’s approach to mobilising climate finance as part of the Glasgow Green Deal, including some of the innovative solutions, including the £30bn Glasgow Greenprint for investment, and ongoing work by Strathclyde Pension Fund to manage its portfolio in a way compliant with the Paris Agreement.
11:35 Session 4: Adaptation Finance Solutions in Glasgow City Region – Paul Watkiss, Paul Watkiss Associates.
To complement city-scale approaches, significant financial innovation is needed in the case of the project level solutions. This is particularly acute for adaptation, where the majority of benefits are public goods. PWA will present an overview of the resource mobilisation plan for adaptation in Glasgow City Region, and the seven unique business models developed under the Clyde Rebuilt programme – part of EIT Climate KIC’s Deep Demonstration programme of Forging Resilient Regions.
11:50 Panel discussion and Q&A.
12:15 Close.