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Finland contributes EUR 34.7 million to counter climate change in developing countries

Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Publication date 8.10.2015 14.59
Press release 221/2015

Finland will contribute EUR 34.7 million to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to help developing countries deal with climate change. This is the first part of Finland's EUR 80 million funding target during the GCF's Initial Resource Mobilization period in 2015–2018.

The funding consists of revenue acquired from the auctioning of emissions allowances in 2013–2014 and is part of the ODA administered by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. In its session on 8 October, the Ministerial Finance Committee defended the decision presented by Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Lenita Toivakka.

"In the recent UN Summit, we adopted the Sustainable Development Agenda, including Goals in which climate actions play a key role. We need to combat climate change in order to reduce poverty and to promote sustainable development. Measures taken to combat climate change have a direct impact on food security and sustainable water supply and energy production, which also belong to the Government's development policy priorities. At the same time, these actions open up opportunities for Finnish clean technologies," Minister Toivakka says.

"The next objective is an ambitious Agreement at the Paris Climate Change Conference in December," she stresses.

The purpose of the Green Climate Fund, which operates under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is to support low-carbon and climate-resilient development in developing countries. The GCF provides financing through a wide variety of instruments, grants and concessional lending. It is also tasked to leverage the availability of private investment. So far 37 countries have pledged a total of about USD 10.2 billion to the GCF in 2015–2018. The biggest financiers are the U.S.A., Japan, Great Britain, Germany and France. Finland is a member of the Green Climate Fund Board, which will meet next in Zambia in November this year. Finland's representative is Counsellor Juha Pyykkö.

The public climate finance granted or mobilized by the Government of Finland is composed of financing granted to, for instance, funds such and the GCF, development banks and Finnfund. In 2014, Finland's public climate funding channelled to developing countries was about EUR 116 million, of which 54 per cent was targeted to mitigate climate change and 46 per cent to adaptation activities. This year Finland's public climate funding is estimated to be about EUR 88 million.

Inquiries: Juha Pyykkö, Counsellor, Director of the Unit for International Environmental Policy, tel. +358 295 351 441, Juha Kirstilä, Special Adviser to the Minister, tel. +358 295 351 834

 
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