The UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP27 will join representatives of the COP27 and COP28 Presidencies, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and DZ Bank convene at the European Regional Finance Forum. Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin brings together green energy project developers and investors in Europe to explore opportunities for collaboration

Today’s forum to be held in Frankfurt is themed “Climate Initiatives to Finance Climate Action and the SDGs”. It is the second of five regional forums in the run up to COP28, set up in partnership between the COP27 and COP28 Presidencies, the UN Regional Commissions and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions. The forums in 2023 build on the successful outcomes of the first edition of the forums that was held in 2022 ahead of COP27. They provide a platform for public and private investors and developers of projects on climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience to discuss bridging the current gap in investment for critical, climate-related projects.

An urgent increase in public and private climate finance flows is needed to accelerate Paris-aligned sustainable development in countries already burdened by significant debt and to help finance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The private sector has made significant commitments to science-aligned decarbonization targets through initiatives like Race to Zero and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. Although this has resulted in an increase in finance for some climate-related initiatives, many areas critical to achieving a sustainable future remain severely underfunded.

The primary objectives of today’s finance forum is to connect and facilitate engagement between public and private financiers with project developers, to accelerate investment in concrete initiatives, platforms, and projects in green energy transition. The forum aims at identifying and sharing climate finance and investment opportunities that also support the acceleration of access to clean energy and digital transformations. Furthermore, it advocates for a transparent process that allows countries & promoters to showcase their investments in climate action and responsible use of raw materials for green growth.

The imperative to deploy these future technologies at speed and scale is strong. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the accelerated adoption of renewables and energy efficiency strategies could potentially account for 90% of the required emission reductions by 2050.

But financing the responsible management of these precious resources, combining climate and the SDGs holistically, through robust supply chains will cost billions of dollars. The aim of today’s event is to advance the conversation on addressing this financing gap.

Today’s forum will convene developers of select green transition projects in the UNECE region with ​​representatives from multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, commercial lenders, financial sponsors and public and private investors to identify areas of potential partnership in green energy transition projects.

Last year’s edition of the regional forums witnessed the presentation of a number of investment-ready projects in the areas of mitigation, adaptation, and resilience. A number of these projects are embodied in the “ Compendium of Climate Related Initiatives: Opportunities for Climate Finance and Investments on the SDGs ” . Furthermore, the first edition resulted in the “ Climate Champions’ Expanded Compendium ” of 128 projects (which includes the 50 projects in the Compendium); the High-Level Champions’ Assets to Flows Report with key takeaways from the forums including on what is needed to mobilise and scale private finance; and a Financing Factsheet tool for project proponents.

For more information or financing opportunities, please reach out to hlcfinanceprojects@climatechampions.team.