At the beginning of the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Katowice, German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze and German Development Minister Gerd Müller announced that Germany would double its pledge for the Green Climate Fund, committing new funding of 1.5 billion euros. With this pledge, the German government supports the implementation of the Paris Agreement and global cooperation in the effort to tackle climate change.
Development Minister Müller said, "Climate action is vital to the survival of humankind. Katowice must become a turning point. We must implement the targets of the Paris Agreement systematically and on a binding basis, and make additional investments in international climate action. The countries that are hardest hit by the consequences of climate change are the poorest countries – which have the lowest emissions. 100 million people in coastal areas and in regions affected by drought are already at risk of losing their livelihoods through heat and rising sea levels. Germany is leading the way. We are doubling our contribution to the Green Climate Fund and launching the Development and Climate Alliance, an initiative to encourage addi¬tional private investment in climate projects in developing countries and emerging economies."
Environment Minister Schulze said, "At the climate negotiations, we are advocating for a more binding approach, more courage and more solidarity in climate action. Here at Katowice, we want to adopt a binding rulebook for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. At the end, everybody should know exactly what they have to do so that we can jointly take action against climate change. We also need the courage and the confidence that it takes to constantly improve our joint efforts. And we need solidarity between rich and poor countries. We will not leave the developing countries to fend for themselves as they try to deal with climate change mitigation and adaptation. Through our contribution to the Green Climate Fund, we are sending a strong signal that we are standing together. This is well-invested money, because it will help to foster climate-friendly solutions worldwide. We will encourage other industrialised countries to make similar pledges, and we will seek to get emerging economies to join the effort."
The Fund has 7.3 billion US dollars at its disposal. It is already supporting 93 projects. Numerous further project proposals have been submitted, but due to scarce funding, commitments for new projects will no longer be possible from the middle of 2019.
That is why a decision was taken recently to replenish the Green Climate Fund. At the Fund's initial capitalisation in 2014, Germany was one of the biggest donors, providing 750 million euros. For the replenishment round, Germany is the first country to announce a specific amount.
The Green Climate Fund supports mitigation and adaptation activities in developing countries and emerging economies, such as the large-scale development of renewable energy, the implementation of climate-friendly mobility concepts, new flood protection structures in Bangladesh, and the development of early warning systems for severe weather events. Special attention is being given to support for the least developed countries (LDCs), small island developing states, and African countries.
The mandate of the Green Climate Fund is to support transformational projects that have a broad impact and make systems more climate-friendly. The German government expects the Fund to deliver on this goal even more systematically in the future.
The Green Climate Fund is one element in the system of international climate finance. Last year, the German government provided a total of 3.65 billion euros for international climate change mitigation and adaptation. Some 84 per cent of this funding comes from the budget of the Development Ministry and some 15 per cent, from the Environment Ministry.