Innovation to induce the change needed to counter the inertia of industry, regulation and habit is perhaps one of the greater challenges to counter climate change. Public-private partnerships are being offered as one of mosaics in this comprehensive battle with the UN’s Green Climate Fund (“GCF”) standing out as a narrow but highly visible brush stroke to alter our vision of what is possible. The GCF’s kickoff is intended to add to the momentum for substantive action ahead of the UN’s Paris Conference on Climate Change of “COP 21,” scheduled from November 30 to December 11, 2015. (See: United Nations Conference on Climate Change)
The establishment and presumed methodology of the GCF have raised both hopes and critics. Some have questioned methodologies and priorities or even more fundamentally the role of private resources, funds and industry in this endeavour. On the other hand, it is not only difficult to see progress without involving private enterprise, but this may unleash both creative and accelerated efforts beyond a purely government driven effort. “We have come a long way to build the Green Climate Fund capacity completely from scratch over the last two years,” says Héla Cheikhrouhou, Executive Director of the Fund. “I am delighted that we have reached all of the objectives set by the Board for this year, culminating in approving the first full funding applications. There are many more projects under development in GCF’s pipeline, and we are at last starting to deliver on our mission to advance the global response to climate change.” (More on GCF)
Perhaps for COP 21 there is new momentum, in part because of recent evidence of climate being altered by human action that adds to the urgency and political change including in Canada, the US, China and even maybe Russia. President Putin has just indicated that he will join other global leaders in Paris. Nonetheless, there has been a pattern of high expectations for such previous conferences only to be undone by discord, stalling and failures to actually effectively implement even modest agreement(s). It is on this last point, where words need to be translated to action where the GCF may go from modest catalyst to substantive impact. (See: “Sustainability & Environmentalism can also be Proftable“)
