The One Planet Summit in Paris is looking at ways of financing climate action. Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks is attending. The meeting is to look at "all worldwide investment that must be made climate-friendly," she explained.
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French President Emmanuel Macron, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim are together hosting the One Planet Summit. Precisely two years after the Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted at the COP21, and four weeks after the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn (COP 23), some 50 heads of state and government, representatives of the international business and finance community, and another 4,000 participants are meeting in Paris.
Their deliberations will revolve around ways of channelling more money into climate action and green technologies. It is expected that development banks, businesses and other actors will announce how they intend to contribute to climate change mitigation.
Participants are also to discuss how public and private investments can be targeted such that more weight is accorded to climate considerations. Investments harmful to the climate are to be less profitable than climate-friendly investment.
The evening before the summit over 50 companies with global operations published a joint statement in which they lay out their intention of combating climate change within the scope of their business activities.
In the Paris Agreement on climate change the international community set itself the goal of keeping global warming, caused by greenhouse gas emissions, down to well under 2° Celsius. But even if the international community were to deliver on all pledges made to date, it is probable that temperatures would rise by 2.8°C, which would have disastrous consequences.
The industrialised countries have pledged to provide 100 billion US dollars every year as of 2020 for climate action in poorer countries. A roadmap is to lay out how this is to be achieved. This roadmap has been available for one year.
Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks explained, "The roadmap shows that we are on the right road as far as climate finance goes. The 100 billion US dollars pledged for 2020 are within our reach, but we must not let up in our efforts. It is particularly encouraging that forecasts show that assistance for adaptation to climate change is set to double."