Climate of denial

Mobilising private capital will be challenging

Climate finance and how to mobilise it will be the key theme occupying negotiators at the 29th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP29, which will convene in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku between November 11 and 22.

With countries, particularly in the Asia-Pacific, facing a shortfall of about $800 billion in climate financing and public funding depleted by the pandemic, policymakers and climate activists are urgently seeking ways to mobilise the vast potential of private-sector financing. This imperative has acquired greater urgency, given the recognition that developing countries, which need to be the principal recipients because their growth remains dependent on fossil fuel, will require climate finance in the region of $5.9 trillion up to 2030.