Finance central in climate change mitigation
Increased finance investments in climate change mitigation would go a long way in alleviating the impacts of COVID- 19 in communities, a virtual dialogue hosted by ABSA and Group 30, heard this week.
The Road to Cop26 dialogue, also dubbed ‘ Road to Zero’ featured three speakers: Canadian economist and banker and former Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, well- decorated Ivorian banker Tidjane Thiam, who worked for Swiss banks, and outgoing ABSA Group CEO Daniel Mminele.
The dialogue formed part of discussions in the run- up to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference ( COP26) that will be held in Glasgow, Scotland in November this year. The five priorities of COP26 are: adaptation and resilience, energy transition, clean transport, nature, and finance.
The all- encompassing message of the dialogue was that today’s sustainable development trends could quickly become tomorrow’s global net- zero transformation, therefore all countries – including the poorest and most vulnerable – can gain from this transition, and Botswana is no exception.
Although adaptation finance flows have increased by 35 percent in recent years, they still fall short of what is needed, especially in developing countries, and there is still much that remains to be learned about how to unlock and enable private capital to help finance national and local adaptation priorities, and how to build the business case for adaptation, Tidjane noted.
Mminele reiterated that in line with ABSA’s updated sustainability policy, the group remains committed to being a responsible financier for projects that mitigate and thwart climate change impacts. “We recognise the impact of climate change and continue to be committed to playing a role in shaping an enabling sustainable economic and social development for the societies in which we operate,” he said in part.
Mminele said that ABSA would also continue to integrate sustainability into its strategy and operations to drive positive change and also
“encourage renewable energy technology such as wind and hydropower as a viable means to meet Africa’s power needs”.
He reiterated that ABSA is already a leading player in financing the continent’s renewable energy, and going forward, the plan is to intensify focus on funding renewable energy projects that are environmentally, socially and economically feasible.
With Botswana recently having passed the National Policy on Climate Change, the hope is that the policy will facilitate development and help tap into climate change mitigation value chains in the business sector, to create sustainable projects and ventures.
Carney, who has controversially stated that deaths from climate change would be worse than those from Covid- 19, noted that making the right investments could unlock short term gains – jobs and economic growth, and also deliver longer term benefits for people, including decarbonisation and resilience.
“Low- carbon stimulus programmes can drive new jobs that are sustainable, inclusive and equitable,” Carney noted. He also reiterated that private finance is increasingly aligned to achieving net- zero greenhouse gas emissions, in instances where emissions produced, equal those that are removed from the atmosphere.
Carney explained that net- zero is a good commercial opportunity, because “If we are making financial investments, and coming up with new technology, as well as changing the way that we do business, with the intention to reduce and eliminate the threat of climate change, we subsequently create value, and will be rewarded”.