More than 1,000 leaders from the worlds of business, finance and philanthropy have convened at COP29 to discuss the role that the private sector needs to play in addressing climate change.
Investor groups boasting a collective $10 trillion in assets also formed part of the discussion, pledging to unite to ‘develop a shared vision and action plan to accelerate the deployment of private capital into climate markets’.
The COP29 Business, Investment, and Philanthropy Climate Platform (BIPCP) was hosted by the COP29 presidency alongside UN Climate Change High-Level Champion Nigar Arpadarai and Azerbaijan‘s economic ministry and export agency.
‘An ecosystem for businesses’
“We need to create an ecosystem for businesses which will make the climate change agenda not only ambitious and mandatory, but also practical and achievable,” Arpadarai commented. “Such a system should encompass more than a few corporations in the developed world and must reach beyond the usual suspects.”
At the event, a number of notable pledges were made – including the launch of a new regional programme entitled Glaciers to Farms, by the Asian Development Bank. The programme aims to mobilise up to $3.5 billion, to address the effects of melting glaciers on water resources and food security in Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Pakistan.
Elsewhere, Azerbaijan’s banking sector committed $1.2 billion for green and sustainable projects by 2030, while Sweden has committed $730 million to the UN Green Climate Fund, to assist low- and middle-income countries in climate adaptation and emission reduction projects.
Other partners for the event included AVPN, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, International Finance Corporation, Marrakesh Partnership, Sustainable Markets Initiative, WBCSD, World Economic Forum and XPRIZE.
COP29 Baku Initiative for Climate Finance, Investment and Trade
Elsewhere, the event saw the endorsement of the COP29 Baku Initiative for Climate Finance, Investment and Trade (BICFIT) Dialogue, which will seek to ensure that finance, investment and trade sits at the centre of the climate change agenda, bringing together actions and initiatives from previous and future COP events.
“The COP29 Presidency’s plan is based on two pillars – to enhance ambition and enable action,” commented COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev. “This means setting out clear climate plans and delivering the finance we need. As we mobilise climate finance, we allow for higher ambitions and as we signal higher ambition, we build trust to unlock greater financial commitments.
“We need all actors from the private sector, philanthropies, multilateral development banks and climate funds, international organisations, and civil society to contribute.” Read more here. [Photo: UN Climate Change]
