DOHA, Qatar –December 5, 2012 –The Global Green Growth Institute held its first major side event as an international organization at the UN Climate Change Conference, or COP 18, under the theme of “Green Growth and Climate Finance Mechanisms.” The event included a panel discussion and remarks from GGGI Council Chairman and former Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Lord Nicholas Stern, I.G. Patel Professor of Economics and Government of the London School of Economics and member of the GGGI Council.
The panel discussion was moderated by GGGI Director-General Richard Samans. The panel included: Mary Barton-Dock, Director of Climate Finance at the World Bank; Ouk Navann, Deputy Director-General at the Ministry of Environment of the Kingdom of Cambodia; Agus Sari, Chair of the Working Group on Funding Instruments for the REDD+ Task Force in Indonesia; and Kasrten Sach, Director-General of International Cooperation at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in Germany.
In his remarks, Chairman Rasmussen noted, “It is our responsibility as members of the international community to create and implement realistic climate change mitigation and adaptation plans that can prove to be attractive funding targets.”
“We have to understand the scale of change that is necessary and that this will involve very substantial investment. What we have to do is radical,” stated Lord Stern in arguing that international institutions must use their “power of example” to garner more funding support.
The panel discussion centered on climate finance. The participants acknowledged the potential crucial role the Green Climate Fund (GCF) could play, including concern that it was not enough to effectively meet climate-related challenges.
“The Green Climate Fund is of fundamental importance, but our picture is much bigger than that. If we’re talking about driving growth and driving green growth and overcoming poverty, it’s that bigger picture that we have to hang on to and ask about the effects of our actions on that big picture,” Lord Stern said in explaining that additional funding beyond the GCF will be necessary.
Chairman Rasmussen talked about the complimentary role GGGI can play in relation to the GCF. “GGGI aims to help set sustainable policies in motion –provide initial funding, implement effective policies and projects, and help make countries, I guess you could say, GCF-ready,” stated Mr. Rasmussen.