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New Global Initiative Launches at COP21 to Boost Green Growth Financing

7 December 2015|News

Multilateral development banks and United Nations partner with the Global Green Growth Institute to help developing and least developed countries finance low-carbon, sustainable, and climate-resilient projects.

As part of a global effort to rapidly accelerate the financing of green growth projects in emerging economies, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), an intergovernmental organization that supports strong, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth in developing countries, announced today the launch of the Inclusive Green Growth Partnership, a new collaboration with top multilateral development banks and United Nations regional economic and social commissions.

The Inclusive Green Growth Partnership, announced at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will leverage GGGI’s technical expertise to assist multilateral development banks and funds in identifying green growth opportunities and investments that promote inclusiveness, shared prosperity and equitable growth that creates employment and raises the income of the world’s poorest.

Through the partnership, GGGI will also enhance opportunities for global green investment and financing by working closely with emerging economies and least developed countries to build capacity to develop green capital projects, support efforts to promote readiness for climate finance, and prepare green investment projects that attract private capital.

“Building the critical financial and technical capacity of developing and least developed countries has long been a challenge in the climate action process, and it is the key issue that this Inclusive Green Growth Partnership seeks to address,” said Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Assembly of the Global Green Growth Institute and former President of the Republic of Indonesia.

“Developing countries across the world rely on funding from multilateral development institutions to pursue their ambitions of robust and inclusive economic growth with minimal impact on the environment,” said Yvo de Boer, Director-General of GGGI and former Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC. “This partnership will raise the technical capacities of these emerging economies, reduce the barriers for critical green investment and improve the lives of millions of the world’s most marginalized people.”

In addition to GGGI, the founding members in the Inclusive Green Growth Partnership include the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

"Green growth frameworks need to adapt to the world after the adoption of the SDGs and COP21. By exploiting synergies and integrating economic growth, social protection and climate targets under the INDCs and climate adaptation, national green growth policy will have greater promise to maximize its outcomes for climate sustainability and people’s welfare," said the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Shamshad Akhtar.

With GGGI’s strength in understanding the green growth priorities of countries, finance issues, and the bankability of projects by multilateral development banks and other financial institutions, combined with the strength of the UN commissions to collaborate on policy dialogue, the Partnership will also seek to address policy barriers to green growth and promote social inclusion at the country level, while significantly increasing the impact of green projects—such as green cities, water, energy, and land use—in a complementary and coordinated way.

"Today, more than ever, we are aware that environmental governance is not a luxury, but a required condition for development and planetary survival. It's not just a question of intergenerational equity, but of changing the development paradigm to one that is guided by the integrated priorities of poverty eradication and the reduction of inequality and of sustainable development. This transformation of the relationship between economic and social development and the environment can no longer wait," said Joseluis Samaniego, Director of the Sustainable Development and Human Settlements Division of ECLAC.

The Inclusive Green Growth Partnership was unveiled at a high-level launch event today in Paris that included a signing ceremony, two high-level panels, and a reception and dinner for the partners. The high-level panel discussions focused on new finance solutions to support developing countries to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and Intended National Determined Contributions, as well as to overcome policy challenges to mainstream green growth in developing and least developed countries.