COP21 session on multilateral development banks and climate finance

Statement by Angel Gurría

Secretary-General, OECD

Monday, 30 November 2015

Le Bourget, France

 

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

I am pleased to welcome you to the OECD pavilion for a conversation on “Mobilising Climate Finance for Development Action”.

 

2015 has been a busy year for the international community. We agreed on the Financing for Development action agenda and adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, and, I hope, in the coming days, we will reach a new global agreement on climate change.

 

These global agendas are intrinsically linked. Our efforts to tackle climate change and development must be mutually supportive.

 

I can say with confidence that momentum for financing climate action is building!

 

At the request of the present and past COP presidencies, France and Peru, earlier this year we released a report in collaboration with the Climate Policy Initiative, Climate Finance in 2013-14 and the USD 100 billion goal. For the first time, we have clear – and somewhat encouraging – picture of where we stand on climate finance.

 

In 2014, an estimated USD 62 billion in public and private finance was mobilised, up from USD 52 billion in 2013. Just five years from 2020, we are more than half-way to our finance goal. This is an important achievement, but we still have a long road ahead!

 

Multilateral development banks have a key role in helping us get there.

 

By our estimate, the six main MDBs contributed approximately 40% of climate finance in 2013 and 2014. And it is thanks to their accelerated reporting that we can account for these financial flows in advance of COP21.

 

The MDBs are uniquely positioned to mobilise additional financing, drawing on their ability to leverage money from the global capital markets, as well as through blending and co-financing activities. This complements other flows of finance such as ODA, private equity, private loans, and export credits. The private sector can mobilise finance if the MDBs play a leading role!

 

The quality of finance also matters!

 

We need both development-smart climate change policies, and climate-smart development finance. The MDBs undoubtedly have important lessons to share.

 

I wish you a fruitful conversation.

 

Thank you.