Washington, D.C. — Last month, world leaders came together in Paris to finalize a historic agreement to curb carbon pollution and improve resilience in the face of climate change, which threatens not only the global economy, but also ecosystems and human lives.
The promise of the Paris agreement lies in the fact that it establishes a lasting framework that requires successive national climate goals. But goals themselves are insufficient to overcome the climate challenge. They must be met through action, and action must be supported by investments from both the private and public sectors at a scale commensurate with the global crisis.
The Center for American Progress has released a new issue brief examining the critical role climate finance will play in the implementation of the Paris agreement and how national governments, multilateral organizations, and the private sector can work together to bridge the vast gap between current financial commitments for climate resilience and the scale of need forecasted by the world’s climate change experts.
“The Paris agreement ushered in a new era in global climate cooperation” said Gwynne Taraska, CAP Associate Director for Energy Policy and co-author of the brief. “But there is still a mismatch between the magnitude of economic and ecological effects from climate change and the level of finance geared toward climate adaptation.”
CAP will also host an event on Wednesday, January 13, with climate finance experts representing the Global Environment Facility, the U.S. Treasury Department, the Green Climate Fund, and the Vulnerable 20—a bloc of nations that are particularly vulnerable to climate change that emerged as an important player in the Paris negotiations.
Click here to read the issue brief.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Tom Caiazza at [email protected] or 202.481.7141.
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