As the year 2023 and its temperature anomalies panic scientists, climate diplomacy continues to move forward, meeting after meeting, towards the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, between November 30 and December 12. On Thursday, October 5, the German city of Bonn hosted an important meeting to take stock of the second "replenishment" of the UN Green Climate Fund (GCF), the world's largest climate fund, which is committed to 200 projects.
Ten governments announced new grants. This brings the number of countries that have participated to 25, for a total of $9.3 billion (€8.8 billion) in additional donations and pledges, making the current fund $17 billion. Five countries are still expected to participate, including the United States, which is in the midst of a budgetary fog.
These efforts are being closely watched by developing countries, who are hoping for more substantial gestures. This is a crucial matter, as the question of financing remains a potential sticking point for progress on other issues, notably that of greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and the phase-out of fossil fuels. "Replenishing the Green Climate Fund is the bare minimum," said Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana's finance minister and chairman of the V20, a group of countries most vulnerable to climate change, on Thursday, before calling for " more climate finance, considering the larger challenge of transforming the global financial architecture. This is necessary if we are to transform our economies, deal with escalating debt levels, expand our adaptive capacity and climate resilience."
To make their mark, Germany and France preferred to unveil their new contributions during the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit on September 20. Berlin had added $2.2 billion (+33%) and Paris $1.74 billion (+4%). "France also supports broadening the donor base to include a greater number of countries, in particular the biggest greenhouse gas emitters," the Ministry of the Economy said at the time. This is a way of putting pressure on oil-producing countries and China.
The refinancing of this GCF – which is targeting $50 billion by 2030 – remains fairly stable. In the first round, in 2014, it received $10.3 billion in pledges. In 2019, at the time of the first refinancing, a further $10 billion had been reached. But the number of contributors had fallen from 45 to 32. This is a cause for concern for developing countries, who have not forgotten the promise made by developed countries at COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009: to reach the 100 billion mark in annual aid before 2020, through funds such as the GCF, the Global Environment Facility, or through direct aid.
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