COP26 President will tomorrow (Friday 14
October, 2022) deliver a major keynote address at the Wilson
Center think-tank in Washington, D.C., outlining key climate
finance priorities ahead of COP27 next month.
Mr Sharma is expected to address how the international system -
including multilateral development banks, businesses, central
banks, finance ministries and regulators - must reform to support
faster climate action in line with the Paris Agreement and the
Glasgow Climate Pact, which was agreed by nearly 200 countries at
COP26 last year.
Mr Sharma is expected to say: “The world is recognising that we
cannot tackle the defining challenge of this century, with
institutions defined by the last.
“We have to incentivise every aspect of the international system
to recognise the systemic risk of climate change, and to make
managing it effectively its central task,” he will add.
The COP26 President is also expected to echo a “compelling call
for an overhaul of our global financial architecture” as set out
in the Bridgetown Agenda by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia
Mottley.
Mr. Sharma will say that multilateral institutions of today were
not set up with the purpose of tackling an existential climate
crisis and that “climate must be at the very heart of what they
do, and they must do more to lead on this agenda.
“The world cannot afford for such institutions to be cautious in
how their considerable climate resources are deployed. That, I
think, is a matter of social justice as well as environmental
security.”
Speaking to an audience of policy, finance and business
representatives, with just three weeks remaining until the start
of COP27, Mr Sharma will also reflect on the legacy of COP26 and
the UK’s Presidency.
“It will soon be time for Egypt to pick up the baton. I want
COP27 to build on the success of COP26, just as COP26 built on
COP25, and COP24 before that,” he will say.
Mr. Sharma will say that this momentum has been challenged by
competing priorities governments have faced this year, but will
also emphasise these priorities cannot be tackled in isolation or
distract from the net zero transition. The COP President will
also recognise that despite progress during the UK Presidency
year, including 24 new Nationally Determined Contributions,
countries are not on track to deliver the full promise of the
Glasgow Climate Pact.
He will conclude by urging all Parties to arrive in Egypt with
the same spirit of urgency, collaboration and compromise that
underpinned the success of COP26 in Glasgow. As the impacts of
climate change become more extreme and spiral, this will include
addressing core issues like loss and damage.
Mr. Sharma will call on countries to tackle loss and damage by
building “on our collective progress at COP26” but “go further
still.” He will also confirm that the UK believes it is right
that there is a new agenda item on this issue.
The event is hosted by the Wilson Center, in partnership with the
British Embassy, Washington D.C.
The speech will be live streamed via the Wilson
Center website at 1500 BST / 1000 ET on Friday 14
October, and on the COP26 Twitter
channel.
