Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat participated in the launch of the “Giving to Amplify Earth Action” (GAEA) initiative to achieve an equitable climate- and nature-positive future at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meetings 2023 in Davos on Wednesday.
Alongside Al-Mashat, this session included WEF President Børge Brende; Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, National Security Council (NSC) John Kerry; Managing Director for the Centre for Nature and Climate at the WEF Gim Huay Neo; United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance Mark Carney; CEO for Temasek Trust Desmond Kuek; CEO for Crescent Enterprises Badr Jafar; and Vice Chairwoman of Carbon Direct Nili Gilbert.
The session discussed the role of philanthropic organizations in stimulating climate action. It also addressed how the government and private sectors can leverage the resources and tools available to philanthropic organizations to bridge an estimated $100 tr gap in order to deploy equitable solutions to preserve climate and nature by 2050, as the initiative and its goals were announced.
Al-Mashat stressed that climate change is a global challenge and that efforts must be unified, along with commitment to climate action and strengthened joint work among relevant stakeholders to utilize all available resources in line with the green transition. It is important to note the role of philanthropic organizations and the resources available to them in stimulating climate action through a partnership with both the private sector and the public sector to mobilize the required investments and help in the flow of capital.
Al-Mashat stated that in 2021, about 2% of the resources of philanthropic organizations were directed to climate action (between $7.5-12.5bn), to assist in efforts to mitigate the repercussions of climate change, while these organizations made available resources estimated at about $810 bn. The Minister stressed that philanthropic organizations can play a catalytic role for climate action through their available resources to finance high-risk projects, as well as technical expertise, and their openness to broad networks of actors, which stimulates the private sector to play a greater role in climate financing.
Moreover, she also referred to the “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing”, which was published at COP27 as one of the initiatives of Egypt’s presidency. The guidebook presents clear principles and recommendations for each of the relevant stakeholders playing a role in stimulating climate action, highlighting the role of philanthropic organizations and noting the coordination between multilateral development banks and other providers of capital such as the private sector and charitable institutions in order to stimulate the provision of financial resources on a large scale.
In light of Egypt’s COP27 presidency, philanthropic organizations have taken over a large part of the discussions and events among the international community to discuss their role in driving climate action, with the ongoing global dialogue being the structure of international finance institutions, including mentioned organizations as key players in mobilizing the resources and investments needed to drive development efforts and climate action.
The session witnessed praise for Egypt’s hosting and chairmanship of COP27, and the importance of the conference as a step towards the transition from financial commitments to implementation. John Kerry, US Presidential Climate Envoy, also applauded the launch of the NWFE program as a model for developing countries and emerging economies to raise climate finance on the basis of platforms, such as the JETP.
