The work that CIF is doing to deliver concessional finance to low- and middle-income countries to help them deliver on the SDG’s has just become even more urgent.
The evidence is now irrefutable: as the recent UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report confirms, CO2 levels are at their highest in 2 million years, causing changes in global weather patterns and ocean levels, some irreversible. And there is no longer much doubt that human activity is driving climate change. But while this is confirmation of our gravest concerns, there is still time to limit climate change, according to the IPCC. Major reductions in the emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases could stabilize global temperatures within 20 to 30 years.
Given the stark warning from the IPCC, the work of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) is all the more relevant and urgent. CIF was established in 2008 to mobilize resources and trigger investments for low carbon, climate-resilient development in low- and middle-income countries. With its US$8.5 billion in funds, CIF is one of the most ambitious efforts to accelerate climate action by empowering transformational change through its programs to provide clean technology, energy access, climate resilience, and sustainable forests in developing countries. Indeed, recognizing the urgency of this mission and strong demand from developing countries, the G7 committed US$2 billion in additional resources for CIF this year. These resources help support developing countries to achieve their SDGs through concessional financing.
Financing from CIF is large-scale, low-cost, and long-term, lowering the risk and cost of climate financing, while allowing CIF to test new business models, build a track record in unproven markets, and boost investor confidence. CIF currently manages programs that enable climate-smart development planning and action through 325 projects in 72 developing and middle-income countries worldwide.
What makes CIF so unique is its focus on sustainability in its transformational interventions, through gender-mainstreaming and just transitions. CIF teams work closely with communities most vulnerable to climate change and most dependent on natural resources. To mitigate the disadvantaged position held by women in relation to climate change impacts, CIF supports them in climate action, and prioritizes gender equality in its programs. In addition, CIF supports the principles of just transitions. The just transitions framework encompasses a range of social interventions to secure workers' rights and livelihoods when countries are transitioning to sustainable energy production. CIF’s Just Transition Initiative (JTI) shows how to help vulnerable communities and individuals join the discussion and implement the changes needed to address climate change, such that no one need be left behind by transformational change.
In conclusion, stabilizing the climate now requires strong, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and reaching net zero CO2 emissions. This makes the work of CIF all the more vital if we are to achieve the global ambition of limiting climate change related temperature rise to below 2ᵒC.