Finland bears responsibility on eve of UN Climate Change Conference and supports developing countries’ adaptation to climate change

NordenBladet — Finland bears its responsibility as part of the climate finance pledge of the Paris Agreement. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Finland will announce support for adaptation measures in developing countries in particular. The COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November 2021.As part of responsible climate policy, Finland participates in supporting climate action in developing countries. In addition to climate finance, Finnish innovations and expertise are also important in this context.Finland has increased its international climate finance during the current government term by 80%, almost doubling it from the previous four-year period. Around two-thirds of climate finance is investment finance in the form of loans and equity, which is also used to leverage a significant amount of private finance. The financing model helps to multiply the climate impact.Finland will return as a donor to the Adaptation Fund (AF) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change with EUR 7 million and continue to support the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF). In addition, a financial package of EUR 30 million will be announced to support weather and early warning services in developing countries.Weather services and early warning systems are one example of the significant results achieved with Finnish finance. An estimated 1.4 million people in the least developed countries have lost their lives in various weather and water-related natural disasters since 1970. Finland has responded to these needs by strengthening the ability of its partner countries to cope with extreme weather phenomena. Ongoing projects allow nearly 300 million people in Nepal, Sudan, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ethiopia to benefit from improved weather and early warning services.Finland’s support also strengthens the capacity of people, communities and small and medium-sized enterprises to adopt clean basic energy solutions, especially in rural areas. Energy and Environment Partnership Programme EEP Africa has invested EUR 50 million in 270 early-stage renewable energy companies since 2010. The business generated by the programme has created almost 9,000 jobs – 3,500 of them for young people – and it generates a total of 263 GWh of energy per year for a total of 900,000 households. Finland ensures that renewable energy solutions benefit women and girls in particular.Finland has been promoting carbon pricing globally for many years. Carbon pricing is one of the most important means of reducing emissions globally. Finnish finance has helped develop carbon pricing mechanisms in seven countries and supported a total of 28 emissions trading systems, carbon taxes and carbon offset mechanisms globally.“Finland has vast research and business expertise in many areas that are crucial to climate action. In addition to the meteorology and energy sectors, the soil carbon sequestration and circular economy sectors also provide new solutions and technologies for climate action in developing countries. However, the fact is that the public sector alone will not solve the climate issue. We need everyone’s contribution, and it is essential that citizens can also support climate action,” says Ville Skinnari, Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade.Finnfund is a significant actor in the Finnish impact investing and developing country investment ecosystems. In its recent Climate and Energy Statement, Finnfund commits itself e.g. to make 1 billion euros worth of new climate investments by 2030 and to keep its investment portfolio net carbon negative. Currently, about half of Finnfund’s funding is targeted to climate actions.The significant increase in our international climate finance is in keeping with the statement in the Government Programme that Finland will scale up climate finance as a part of its development finance, taking due account of its contribution based on the Paris Agreement. The objective is a balanced distribution of finance for mitigation and adaptation. Finland’s finance is part of a joint commitment by developed countries to support developing countries’ climate action with USD 100 billion per year from 2020 to 2025. During this period, Finland will support developing countries’ climate action with a significant financial contribution of approximately EUR 900 million. Finland’s international climate finance as a whole will be reported to Parliament annually in connection with the annual climate report.Examples of the results of climate finance can be found in the ongoing #munvaikutus campaign of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More information on Finland’s international climate action is available on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi