PM gives update on Climate Financing Initiative

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has reported that there have been major achievements under the Climate Financing Initiative.

The prime minister made the announcement on Sunday in his capacity as co-chair of the Climate Financing Initiative at the United Nations (UN) Climate Action Summit in New York.

Holness was appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres to co-chair the Initiative, along with the presidents of France and Qatar to mobilise Government and private sector to build political consensus and increase momentum to raise US$100 billion in climate finance by 2020.

He said that the achievements represent a solid package of outcomes.

The achievements include:

n Major development banks encouraged to scale-up climate finance ambition from project inception to project delivery.

n Donor countries to replenish the Green Climate Fund.

n A space created for the private sector to be a part of this conversation, which generated momentum in the development of strong private sector-led initiatives to properly align their investments with the Paris Agreement.

n Four initiatives encouraged to tackle different aspects of the project value chain. These involve key system fixes that will facilitate stronger project pipelines and crowding-in of funding.

According to Holness: “This, along with more achievements that France will report to you now, represent a solid package of outcomes that will continue to demonstrate strong forward momentum and confidence in the months ahead.”

Prime Minister Holness is in New York for the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The prime minister is expected to hold several bilateral and speaking engagements at UNGA during this week on Climate Action, Adaptation and Financing.