WCF CEO Talks On Raising Funds For Climate Finance (Exclusive)

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. The global climate summit COP29 in Baku in November set ambitious goals, particularly concerning climate financing, and progress is expected during this session of the UN Framework convention on Climate Change conference of the Parties (COP), the CEO of the World Climate Foundation (WCF) Jens Nielsen told Trend .

"We have established good relations with the COP29 team, which means effective coordination of efforts regarding the COP29 agenda, one of the main issues being climate financing. Following the important global decisions made at COP28 in Dubai, there is significant progress in negotiations with representatives from governments and businesses.

However, it's always challenging to predict how the final consultations at COP will unfold due to the interests of nearly 200 countries," Nielsen said.

According to him, to develop a green world, it's necessary to attract more private sector funding to sustainable markets to support emerging markets, such as those in Africa.

"We need a combination of public and private financing for developing markets, and we are working and will continue to work with the US government and other developed countries on this. Our foundation specializes in supporting the private sector in developing countries, meaning we are discussing specific actions and projects," Nielsen emphasized.

He mentioned that WCF aims to raise $65 billion for climate financing by the end of 2024 through negotiations with major investors from around the world.

Consultations will continue, including on September 25 in New York, where WCF will host a global climate summit with the COP29 presidency team and Azerbaijani officials, he explained.

According to the CEO, renewable energy projects like wind and solar power plants currently receive the majority of "green" investments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"However, investments are also needed in 'green' technologies for construction, transportation, and industrial sectors such as cement and aluminum production, which have significant greenhouse gas emissions. We are discussing this in our negotiations with potential climate financing partners," Nielsen also said.

He praised Azerbaijan's initiative as COP29 president to establish the Climate Financing Action Fund (CFAF) with a budget of $1 billion.

"The CFAF is very important as it can support the green energy transition. This fund could accumulate contributions from global oil and gas companies as compensation for emissions, with funds used to assist developing countries in meeting their climate commitments. It's a good idea and a correct approach," Nielsen added.

The WCF CEO participated in Baku this week in the 11th technical dialogue of experts and the third meeting of the special working group preparing for COP29, where support was expressed for efforts to agree on the "new collective quantified goal (NCQG) on climate financing."

The WCF is one of the organizers of the COP sessions and serves as a leading international platform for accelerating the development of a green economy through partnerships between governments, businesses, investors, and civil society.

This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 70–80,000 foreign guests.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. COP-the Conference of the Parties-is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Germany's Berlin with its secretariat in Bonn.

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