IFC’s Agenda at COP28

Jamie: We need to reduce emissions by a further 43% by 2030, to stay on track. And that's a complete rewiring of the global economy in just seven years.

Lindy: IFC’s Global Head of Climate Business, Jamie Fergusson, tells us what's at stake at COP28 - the world’s biggest international forum on climate issues - in the final installment of the Road to COP series on IFC Audio Stories. I’m your host, Lindy Mtongana

Lindy: Jamie, it is clear that we are falling short of climate goals. And we are seeing very regularly the devastating consequences of that. So tell us what is at stake at COP28.  

Jamie: Thanks, Lindy. So, for those who don't know, the acronym COP is Conference of the Parties and 28 - this is the 28th year where the world is trying to come together and make a plan to solve climate change. And you're right, there's some doom and gloom, the temperature records keep on coming. The physical impacts of climate change are there for all of us to see and coming faster than any of us expected. And for this COP, in particular, the UNFCCC is launching its first Global Stock Take, which gives the parties a chance to see how we're doing against the Paris Agreement. And the answer is not great. And we need to reduce emissions by a further 43% by 2030, to stay on track. And that's a complete rewiring of the global economy in just seven years. So it's challenging, but there's room for optimism as well, here. The Paris Agreement is holding, actions are happening the curve of adjustment for global emissions - we've not slowed, we are still increasing every year, but it is slowing that growth. And so the chance of hitting peak emissions and moving into decline is coming closer. The negotiations are bearing fruit, the loss and damage fund has been structured. And there's good hope that it will be really well funded to support devastating impacts in emerging markets like the floods in Pakistan recently. And of course, our own institution is completely retooling for climate change. So the world is moving. And meanwhile, technology is on our side, it's extraordinary to see that renewable energies are now the lowest-cost way to generate energy, solar, and wind. We all see electric vehicles coming on the streets, not only here in DC, but across the emerging markets. So technology is innovating really fast. And there's room for hope. 

Lindy: Why is the private sector agenda for climate so important? After all, COP and indeed the Paris Agreement, is focused around country and particularly government ambition, isn’t it?

Jamie: Right. The Paris Agreement commits the government signatories to taking their own direct action, all trying to align to the ambition of less than two degrees and, and closer to one and a half, and each country's committing its own pathway there. But that pathway will require vast amounts of private capital. This will not be done with all public capital, it certainly needs public regulation. We need to stop subsidizing fossil fuels, we need to set a price on carbon. And we need good enabling environments for climate investments like renewable energy, green buildings, green steel, but most of the capital will come from the private sector. And that's IFC’s role. Right? So are we see our role as trying to accelerate the pathway to an inclusive transition to low-carbon resilient growth in developing countries and being the first helping catalyze new markets and renewable energy and green buildings, in green steel, in green cement in climate-smart agriculture. If we can help those first movers, and tip the markets in the right direction, that's our job. And we can mobilize vast amounts of capital to do it last year, we committed 7.6 billion of our own money, but we also mobilized a further 6.8. And so the more we can do that mobilization, the more we can contribute to accelerating that transition. 

Lindy: And finally, Jamie, what do we as IFC hope to achieve in Dubai?

Jamie: So COP is at its heart a negotiation, and we're not a part of that. But we do want to inform that negotiation as to encourage countries to make those changes. We talked about the right regulations to end fossil subsidies, to promote clean technology investment, put a price on carbo. And it's also effectively a massive trade fair where we can engage with all of our partners across the world be they public or private, build new partnerships, engage on thought leadership and understanding this space is moving very, very fast. So we need to learn alongside everyone else and to do business we are doing you know where this is. This is at its core for us is a business opportunity to keep on finding new investment clients and committing new capital to climate finance.

Lindy: Thank you so much Jamie. 

Jamie: Thanks Lindy. 

And that brings us to the end of this four-part series on the “Road to COP28”. Remember, you can continue to follow IFC’s agenda, events and announcements at COP on our website ifc.org and across all our social media platforms. 

Thanks as always for listening to IFC Audio Stories, I’m your host Lindy Mtongana.