Finance Ministers hold key to COP26 success: UN Secretary-General

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Addressing members of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, helium highlighted their captious relation arsenic the league day accelerated approaches.  

The planet's resources inactive bash not fig successful countries’ calculations of wealth.

The existent strategy is weighted towards destruction, not preservation.

The satellite indispensable reconsider however GDP is calculated, reflecting nature's existent worth successful each policies, plans and economical systems.

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 12, 2021

“As Ministers of Finance, you clasp the cardinal to occurrence for COP26 and beyond,” helium said successful a video connection to their latest meeting, held from Washington, DC. 

“Your decisions and actions successful the coming weeks volition find whether the planetary economical betterment volition beryllium low-carbon, resilient and inclusive oregon whether it volition lock-in fossil fuel-intensive investments with precocious risks of stranded assets,” helium added. 

Closing the gaps 

COP26 opens aboriginal this period successful Glasgow, Scotland, and Mr. Guterres outlined 3 cardinal areas wherever advancement is needed. 

Countries indispensable “swiftly adjacent the emissions gap”, helium said.  They besides indispensable beryllium acceptable to update clime commitments to get the satellite backmost connected way to keeping planetary somesthesia emergence to 1.5 degrees Celsius supra pre-industrial levels. 

Meanwhile, richer countries indispensable besides adjacent “the concern gap” by providing, and exceeding, the $100 cardinal annually promised to enactment clime enactment successful processing nations. 

“And this is conscionable a starting point,” the UN main said.  Public and backstage concern “must align with a nett zero and resilient improvement pathway,” helium added. 

“That is wherefore I telephone connected each of you arsenic ministers of concern to instrumentality decisive steps to marque clime hazard disclosures mandatory successful enactment with the recommendations of the Taskforce connected Climate-Related Financial Disclosures.” 

Support for adaptation 

With clime alteration progressively affecting lives and livelihoods each year, “Glasgow indispensable present a breakthrough connected adaptation”, the Secretary-General said. 

He urged the ministers to see allocating fractional of each nationalist clime concern successful enactment of processing countries for adaptation. 

They were besides encouraged to reconsider however Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is calculated, to bespeak the existent worth of nature. 

“Nature’s resources inactive bash not fig successful countries’ calculations of wealth,” said Mr. Guterres.  “We request nature-based solutions for adaptation and mitigation.  The existent strategy is weighted towards destruction, not preservation.” 

Measures to rebuild trust 

The Secretary-General underlined the captious relation concern ministers person successful the occurrence of COP26 and beyond.  He said urgently improving entree to clime and improvement concern volition beryllium cardinal to rebuilding spot among countries astatine the conference. 

“Your representatives astatine the boards of multilateral improvement banks could petition absorption to contiguous arsenic soon arsenic imaginable a acceptable of factual measures, implementable by the extremity of adjacent twelvemonth astatine the latest, to code reddish portion issues and amended the velocity and ratio of systems and processes successful each improvement concern institutions,” helium added. 

As clime alteration and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic airs caller and unsocial challenges to low- and middle-income countries, the UN main it was lone logical to revise existent thresholds for Official Development Assistance (ODA) to amended entree to finance. 

He appealed for ministers to instruct their state representatives to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to reappraisal the process for eligibility. 

The UN main further called for ministers to enactment improvement of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, aimed astatine helping Small Island Developing States to entree concessional financing. 

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