Year: 2021

Accelerating Climate Action through National Climate Funds

While leaders at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) place special emphasis on increasing ambition and closing the climate finance delivery gap, another vital consideration should be on how exactly that finance will be delivered. Since 2009 when the initial $100 billion climate finance commitment was made, the international landscape has shifted significantly, […]

Closing the Gap: The Role of National Climate Funds in Meeting Global Climate Finance Goals

By Rishikesh Ram Bhandary In 2009, developed countries committed to mobilizing $100 billion in climate finance to developing countries every year by 2020. Eleven years later, however, developed countries have not yet met this commitment, and political attention has been solely focused on how countries can bridge the remaining gap of roughly $20 billion. While […]

GDP Center Round Up: UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) – Week One

By Maureen Heydt From October 31-November 12, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, will take place in Glasgow, Scotland. The summit seeks to bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. World leaders, policymakers, researchers, journalists, activists […]

Lights On: The State of International Development Finance, Coal and Green Energy

On October 31, 2021, the Group of 20 (G20) made a historic announcement by committing to end finance for coal-fired power plants overseas. The G20 pledge caps a year of major sustainable finance pledges from national governments and their development finance institutions (DFIs) since the inaugural 2020 Finance in Common Summit, where DFIs pledged to […]

GDP Center Round Up: UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) – Week Two

By Maureen Heydt From October 31-November 12, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, will take place in Glasgow, Scotland. The summit seeks to bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. World leaders, policymakers, researchers, journalists, activists […]

Accelerated Shifts in Terrestrial Life Zones Under Rapid Climate Change

Rapid climate change is impacting biodiversity, ecosystem function and human well-being. Though the magnitude and trajectory of climate change are becoming clearer, understanding of how these changes reshape terrestrial life zones — distinct biogeographic units characterized by bio-temperature, precipitation and aridity representing broad-scale ecosystem types — has been limited. To address this gap, a new […]

Chart of the Week: The Debt-Climate Nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa

By Samantha Igo As the Group of Twenty (G20) meet in Rome from October 30-31, the triple crisis of climate, COVID-19 and ballooning sovereign debt demands bold intervention.  Countries are reeling from the economic and social costs following a summer of extreme weather events, with only 2.9 percent of people in low-income countries having received […]

Evaluating the BRICS Financing Mechanisms: Q&A with Paulo Nogueira Batista, Jr

By Samantha Igo Comprising an estimated total population of nearly 3.21 billion people, the BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa constitute the world’s five major emerging economies and are a significant influence on international affairs. In 2012, the BRICS made the momentous decision to establish their own financing mechanisms, including a […]