The Summit for a New Global Financing Pact took place in Paris from 22-23 June 2023.
Several announcements and commitments were made during the Summit, including:
- The International Monetary Fund announced that it has reached the target of making $100 billion in special drawing rights (SDRs) available for vulnerable countries – following a 2021 agreement by rich countries to redistribute their unused SDRs
- The World Bank committed to pause debt repayments on new loans for countries struggling with climate disaster. The UK will do the same for existing loans for 12 countries in Africa and the Caribbean.
- Zambia reached an agreement to restructure $6.3 billion of its debt, a deal that could set a precedent for other climate change vulnerable countries.
- Colombia, Kenya, and France proposed the establishment of a Global Expert Review on Debt, Nature, and Climate by COP28, aiming to assess the impact of debt on the ability for low- and middle-income countries to preserve nature and adapt to climate change.
- A coalition to protect and fund natural capital was announced by a group of leading forest countries including Colombia, Congo, and Gabon, aiming to incorporate new carbon and biodiversity funding instruments into ‘country packages’, with the first of these to be announced at COP28.
- France and the UK initiated a process to steer a Global Roadmap on high-integrity biodiversity credit markets (see further information below).
However, despite these outcomes (and many others not listed here), some have also raised concerns that the Summit did not deliver tangible progress on transforming the global financial system.
NatureFinance contributed to the development of a Global Roadmap for the development of high-integrity biodiversity credits
A high-level official side-event was co-hosted by UK Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs Thérèse Coffey and French State Minister for Ecology Bérangère Couillard.
The event was moderated by Simon Zadek, Executive Director of NatureFinance.
Speakers included H.E. Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabonese Republic, Razan Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change High Level Champion for COP28, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, Secretary for Climate Energy and Environment of Brazil and Chief Almir Surui, Leader of the Paiter-Surui People.
During the event, France and the UK announced a Global Biodiversity Credits Roadmap and the launch of an Advisory Panel to shape the development of the Roadmap. The Roadmap includes working with existing initiatives and crowding in new country partners and innovative ideas to co-develop equitable and impactful biodiversity credit markets at scale.
If you missed the event you can watch the recording:
Unlocking credit enhancement for sustainability-linked sovereign financing
The Sustainability-Linked Sovereign Debt Hub (SSDH) held an affiliated event during the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, co-hosted alongside UNFCCC Climate Champions, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the COP28 organisers, calling for a collaborative approach to scaling up credit enhancement among key MDBs and DFIs.
The event, held under Chatham House Rules, provided the impetus to formally launch the inter-institutional Working Group on Credit Enhancement, which is mandated to design and develop a mechanism to unlock credit enhancement for performance-based sovereign financing and other use cases.
The Working Group aims to align the capabilities and/or pool the capacities of international financial institutions to issue Credit Enhancement instruments such as partial risk guarantees and political risk insurance at the requisite scales.
High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People Secretariat meeting
The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People Secretariat met during the Summit.
The meeting focused on the importance now of moving from commitments to actions, and how to best support the implementation and the achievement of the protection and conservation of at least 30% of the planet’s land and 30% of the ocean by 2030 – a target set by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed during CBD COP15.
Speakers included Chief Surui, Member of the Taskforce on Nature Markets, an initiative of NatureFinance.
If you missed the meeting you can watch the recording:
For more information and a full summary of the discussions and outcomes of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, go to the Summit website.
