Climate change
ICC reinforces business role at Climate Investment Funds meeting
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) underscored at the Climate Investment Funds meetings that effectively leveraging private and public capital will require a range of incentives, partnerships, policy frameworks, and risk sharing in order to achieve the desired results.
ICC is an official global private sector observer of the Climate Investment Funds, which are designed to help developing countries pilot low-emissions and climate resilient development for better preparing vulnerable regions for natural disasters. The total amount pledged by 14 countries to these funds, housed by the World Bank, is approximately US$6.5 billion.
At the Istanbul meetings, which ran from 30 October to 7 November, ICC highlighted both the current and future roles of the private sector in delivering innovation and finance in low emission technologies, products, and services that help to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
The Climate Investment Funds meetings, which included the ICC-supported Private Sector Forum and culminated in the Partnership Forum, brought together more than 200 representatives from governments, private sector and civil society.
Wendy Poulton, Vice Chair of the ICC Commission on Energy and Environment, highlighted the long-term investment horizon for energy infrastructure and that long-term investments require specific planning and risk management. Ms Poulton – who spoke at the plenary session on “Private Sector Adaptation: Emerging Experiences from Global Business” – cited the example of her company, Eskom, which has a corporate strategy for managing risk and building resilience.
Andrea Bacher, Policy Manager for energy and environment, stressed that any long-term investment needs to balance short- and long-term strategies to deal with the multifaceted economic, social, and environmental challenges and opportunities.
With support from the Climate Investment Funds, 48 developing countries are piloting transformations in clean technology, sustainable management of forests, increased energy access through renewable energy, and climate-resilient development.
Chambers of commerce from the Philippines, St Lucia and Ethiopia are also among the total of eight private sector observers representing different regions and working areas of the funds.
For more information please visit the Environment and Energy Commission pages.
