COP25 celebrates the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action

Ignacio Briones, Minister of Finance of Chile, launched officially the Santiago Action Plan to accelerate the transition to climate finance to achieve low-carbon and climate-resilient growth.

At the High-Level segment during the second week of COP25, the Minister of Finance of Chile, Ignacio Briones, lead the ministerial meeting of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action that endorse 51 countries that together represents the 30% of the world GDP. Additionally, the Coalition manages US $ 7.8 trillion in national budgets, which represents 10% of the world GDP.

“Business as usual is no longer an option —if it ever was. We will not achieve our climate goals unless we have unity and cooperation on a global scale to tackle climate change, which is an existential threat to all of us. Finance is at the heart of our economies and it must be at the very center of our efforts to transform them. It is the lifeblood of production and consumption worldwide and it must become the seed of a new global economy. Without it, a sustainable, greener world will be impossible,” says Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UNFCCC.

On his part, Briones reaffirmed the political commitment of the Finance Ministers to climate change and sustainable development: “It is people who suffer the most pernicious effects of climate change. But it is also people who suffer the effects of the transition to low-emission economies, when this transition is not fair. We should not lose sight of this look, nor forget that when we talk about people and citizens, we do not only talk about current generations, we are also talking about our children and grandchildren.”

This is the first time in a COP that brings together Ministers of Finance to analyze in depth actions to follow in the face of climate change. In fact, the meeting brought together more than 15 Finance leaders. Along with strengthening the role of the Ministries of Finance in Climate Action, the Chilean Minister took advantage of the instance to launch the Santiago Action

Plan that aims to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy.

The Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, co-chaired by Finland and Chile, was launched at the World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings on 13 April 2019 to drive stronger collective action to tackle climate change and its impacts. The Coalition will help countries to design and implement climate policies at the national level, and consider coordinated efforts at the regional and global level.

The objectives of the Coalition are set out in “Helsinki Principles.” The Principles reflect the engagement of Finance Ministers to act on climate change by sharing best practices and experiences and initiating analytical work to support policy action to reach evidence-based cost-efficient solutions. In particular, the focus is on carbon pricing, macroeconomic and fiscal policies, public financial management as well as climate finance to achieve low-carbon and climate- resilient growth.

In one hand, this represents a unique opportunity to amplify the work of the Coalition and also highlights its linkages with the UNFCCC process such as the required alignment of the policies and practices of the Finance Ministers with the Paris Agreement and, also, their active engagement in the elaboration of National Determined Contributions.

On the other hand, this meeting represents a special occasion to discuss in the context of the UNFCCC process technical matters mainly under the expertise of Finance Ministers, such as risk management, carbon pricing, and the financial aspects of the NDC.

“We have to support our governments to implement Paris Agreement and update our NDC next year”, says Kimmo Tiilikainen, Finance State Secretary of Finland.