Please join The World Resources Institute, Conservation International, the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network Institute for Policy Studies, and Friends of the Earth for a panel discussion will on the evolving international climate finance architecture and the need for climate finance to meet the needs of developing countries by catalyzing transformation in their economies.

The panel will focus in particular on the design of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) established by Parties to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Cancun last December to support investments in climate change adaptation and mitigation activities in developing countries. A Transitional Committee (TC) has been tasked with leading the design process of the GCF and is expected to prepare its recommendations for the next Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Durban.

Panelists will exchange views on current climate financing needs, overarching principles to guide the Fund's design, governance and institutional arrangements, operational modalities and relationships with other sources of climate finance, the role of the private sector, as well as civil society engagement and participation. They will also consider how climate finance can catalyze the scale up of investments necessary to urgently address climate change and thus gain greater legitimacy as a mechanism for delivering resources to developing countries.

Panelists include:

  • Manish Bapna, Interim President of the World Resources Institute will chair the session.
  • Andrew Steer, Special Envoy on Climate Change at the World Bank
  • Representatives from Norway and/or South Africa (Co-Chairs of the Transitional Committee), tbc
  • Rebecca Chacko, Senior Director of Climate Policy at Conservation International
  • Janet Redman, Co-Director of the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network Institute for Policy Studies
  • Karen Orenstein, International Policy Analyst at Friends of the Earth U.S.
  • Clifford Polycarp, Senior Associate at the World Resources Institute