"CMIA helped to explain the potential for project-based mechanisms across a variety of constituencies and is a key voice driving the conversation on results-based finance and sector approaches for scaling-up emission reduction investments. We urgently need input from organisations like CMIA to operationalise Art 6 of the Paris Agreement."

Mr. Franz-Josef Schafhausen, former Director General Climate Change, European and International Affairs, Federal German Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety

COP24 statement on behalf of the Climate Markets & Investment Association (CMIA) and its members

3rd December 2018 by CMIA

The 24th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 24) is an opportunity for countries to come together to make progress on the 2015 Paris Agreement, which was hailed as a landmark agreement on climate change.

A report recently released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made a compelling argument that it is the responsibility of every country, business and individual in the world to take action if we are to curtail global temperature rise and avert the potentially catastrophic consequences of enhanced climate change.

We are calling on all stakeholders – governments, business and civil society – to come together during COP 24 to build a coherent and cohesive message which will guide the action required to meet global climate and development goals. The goal of the Paris Agreement is for the world to become carbon neutral by the second half of the century. When combined with the Sustainable Development Goals, this gives us a road map for growth in the 21st century. Achieving this roadmap will require cooperative action among nations, businesses and individuals.

CALL TO ACTION

We would like see three things delivered from the Parties at COP24:

Enabling Environment – Facilitate Private Sector Participation

The Paris Agreement confirmed the collective commitment of developed countries to mobilise $100bn of climate finance by 2020 from public and private sources. The mobilisation of private sector capital is essential to the success of meeting global climate objectives. However, a lack of enabling frameworks and clear project pipelines for the private sector act as barriers for implementing NDC targets.

The private sector is ready and willing to invest in innovative solutions – be it renewable energies or natural climate solutions – which are crucial contributors to achieving carbon neutrality and curtailing global temperature rise. We urge Parties to work closely with the private sector to remove barriers, to stimulate capital and deal flow, and to build networks across sectors.

COP Decision – Finalise the Paris Rulebook

We call on the Parties to finalise the Paris Rulebook – which guides how the Paris Agreement will be implemented – and demonstrate at COP24 a commitment to stepping up climate action. Parties should recommit to the Paris Agreement and reflect on the level of ambition in 2019, with a goal of communicating more ambitious NDCs by 2020.

Talanoa Dialogue – Create Actionable Outcomes

Convened by the COP presidencies of Fiji and Poland, over the past year the Talanoa Dialogue has asked everyone from business to industry and cities to civil society three simple questions: where are we, where do we want to go and how do we get there?

The Talanoa Dialogue officially concludes at COP24, where it is required to deliver answers to these questions. We urge that the outcomes of the Talanoa Dialogue are developed into clearly defined actions that governments can take forward and implement in order to meet their NDCs.

About CMIA

As the UK’s leading non-profit climate finance association, CMIA makes the link between government and businesses who work in the sustainability sector. Our mission is to stimulate a shift in the direction and scale of private and public financial flows into investments which are consistent with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. CMIA and its members do this, not only by developing the necessary investment opportunities, but also by helping to establish the enabling environments needed to increase deal flow to the scale required. We recognise that this shift in financial flows will only happen alongside broader efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and efforts to establish partnerships involving private sector and government.