Germany’s state secretary in the federal ministry for economic cooperation and development has highlighted the role that private finance can play in the fight against climate change.
Speaking at the COP27 conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Jochen Flasbarth said that the gap between the resources that governments have and what is needed cannot be filled without private finance.
“Even if the budget of the old, typical donor countries were not under pressure—but they are—even then, we would not be able to fill the gap, even by tripling or quadrupling the funding we do at the moment. So, it’s very clear that we need private finance to come on and that we need the right instruments. To address the resilience and loss and damage gap, it’s much more difficult than in other areas.”
He added: “If I look at mitigation, we have the right technologies. If you are setting the right frame for investing in renewables and green hydrogen over time and you ask me, it’s better to be sooner rather than later. There is no public money needed; it will finance itself. It will be the new normal as a business. Addressing the losses and damages, and the resilience finance gap is much more difficult. But, here, we do have instruments in place.”
Also speaking at the panel at COP27 was Michel Liès, Chair of Zurich Insurance and Chair of the Insurance Development Forum (IDF).
He said: “I think that when things start to move together, I feel happy. And that brings me to the Insurance Development Forum. It’s something which is close to my heart. It’s close to the heart of many of my insurance peers because it simply reflects the fact that insurance can, should, must play a more intense role in the challenge that we have in front of us.”
