Interactive Panel Discussion: Bridging the Climate Finance Gap at Local Level

Held via Zoom.

This online event highlighted the importance of climate adaptation finance reaching the local level, especially the poor and vulnerable communities who are the hardest hit by the impacts of climate change. The session discussed lessons from the ADB Resilient Communities Development project in Myanmar and Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund’s (UCCRTF) experiences.

Angela Consuelo Ibay

With more than 20 years in climate change and environment fields, Gia presently heads WWF Philippines’ Climate Change and Energy Programme, concurrently serving as Earth Hour Philippines’ National Director. She chaired National Renewable Energy Board’s Public Relations and IEC Sub-committee and was British Embassy Manila’s first Climate Change Attaché. Gia has worked at the Manila Observatory, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Environmental Management Bureau.

Emerging Private Climate Finance Disputes

Ms. Delaney talked about emerging private climate finance disputes. Funding for climate-related projects may come from the public sector, the private sector, the Green Climate Fund, and the Clean Development Mechanism, through loans or equity arrangements. She described arbitration as particularly useful in resolving private climate finance disputes given its adaptability to legal and cultural differences, flexibility and efficiency, ability to choose arbitrators and experts with experience in climate change and climate finance, and enforceability.

Climate Finance Flows in the Pacific

Ms. Ilona Millar, special counsel in the Environmental Markets team at Baker McKenzie, Sydney, briefly explained the concept of climate finance and discussed about climate finance flows in the Pacific. In 2010–2014, climate finance to Pacific Island countries totaled $1,762 million, of which $1,455 million came from bilateral sources and $307 million from multilateral sources. Likewise, of this amount, $748 million had climate change as the main objective while $1,014 million targeted climate change as a co-benefit.

Climate Change: The Politics of Action and Finance

Tracking and reporting financial flows is needed to help measure the effectiveness of climate actions. This also helps in building trust and accountability and to monitor trends and progress. In this presentation, Pretty Bhandari, ADB’s Director for Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, talks about political economy and climate change, climate finance architecture, and the climate action taken by ADB.