Mahmoud Mohieldin: Fulfilling Pledges and De-risking Finace and Investments are Necessary to Catalyze Climate and Development Finance
Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High Level Champion for Egypt and UN Special Envoy on Financing 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, confirmed that catalyzing climate finance requires all countries and parties to fulfill their financial pledges, as well as implement a range of actions such as mitigating financing risks and activating concessional finance and foreign exchange guarantees.
This came during his participation in a session entitled “Incentives: Lever of Change” at the Global Futures Conference 2023 held within the events of New York Climate Week, with the participation of Daniel Esty, Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law & Policy at Yale School of the Environment & Yale Law School, Nicole Rycroft, Founder and Executive Director of Canopy, Antoinette Vermilye, Co-founder of Gallifrey Foundation and She Changes Climate, Henrietta Fore,Chairman and CEO of Holsman International, and Amanda Ellis, Senior Director of Global Partnerships and Networks at Arizona State University.
Mohieldin said that concessional finance and the activation of innovative finance instruments are necessary to stimulate climate and development finance in developing countries, noting the importance of concessional finance policies to include low interest rates and long-term repayment and grace periods.
He explained that activating tools to mitigate financing and investment risks, such as credit enhancement and credit guarantee, would encourage the private sector to finance climate and development action and invest in related activities. He also noted the importance of developing regulatory and legislative frameworks for business to support the flow of funds and investments for development and climate projects in developing countries, especially from the private sector.
The climate champion stressed the need to work on reducing the debt of low- and middle-income countries through debt swaps and special drawing rights(SDR), activate foreign exchange guarantee mechanisms, and support local institutions and projects in developing countries in a way that enhances their ability to attract investments and private financing for climate and development projects.
Mohieldin underlined the importance of all countries and actors fulfilling their financial pledges, explaining that the fulfillment of developed countries of their pledge on providing $100 billion annually to finance climate and development action in developing countries will not be enough – if done – to bridge the finance gap, but it will enhance confidence between countries and pave the way for the implementation of more pledges related to financing and implementing climate and development action.
