Private finance for climate action in spotlight at Berlin talks

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said that industrialized nations must be held financially responsible for tackling climate change, but that the private sector share of climate finance must increase, too.

“We, in the industrialized countries, need to continue to live up to our responsibilities,” she said on Thursday at this year’s Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin, where representatives of about 40 states were in attendance.

The gathering serves as a starting signal for the next UN climate negotiations, which will take place in Azerbaijan in November.

Baerbock said that $5 trillion a year are needed for the “global ecological transition,” with over $2 trillion of that specifically for developing countries.

“Half of the $2 trillion dollars must come from sources within developing countries, and obviously the other half from international financial flows,” she said.

“Public funds simply aren’t going to be sufficient,” the minister said, stressing that the private sector must “invest significantly” in creating cleaner, more resilient economies in developing countries.

Baerbock said that Germany, the largest economy in Europe, had kept its financial promises and would continue to do so.

The German government will provide €6 billion annually from next year for climate projects in developing countries, “even though, and I would like to say that very frankly, we face budget constraints in Europe because of Russia’s war against Ukraine,” she said.

Source: dpa