International climate finance actors meet in Lahti: aim to respond to commitments made at COP26

At the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in November 2021, industrialised countries pledged to double adaptation funding to developing countries by 2025 and to balance adaptation and mitigation in international climate finance. The Lahti Adaptation Finance Ministerial, to be hosted by Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari, will seek solutions for meeting the commitments made at COP26 and pave the way for COP27 that will take place in November.

“The need for adaptation measures is critical. We need a joint plan to which public and private financers, funds and developing countries are committed. The meeting in Lahti will bring together the key stakeholders and show that they are ready to act,” Minister Skinnari says.

Adaptation finance provides means to prepare for impacts of climate change that cannot be addressed through mitigation, that is, emission reductions. These include extreme weather events such as droughts, floods or hurricanes, and the poorest countries suffer the most from these. Finland is one of the world leaders in weather and early warning services.

Role of private sector to be expanded

The Lahti Adaptation Finance Ministerial will bring together many key players in international climate finance: development ministers, representatives of the least developed countries and Small Island Developing States, key actors in organisations promoting adaptation finance (e.g. UN, OECD, Global Center on Adaptation) and climate funds. The representative of the World Meteorological Organization will be its Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

Industrialised countries are still the largest providers of adaptation funding, but financing by the private sector is crucial in responding to the enormous global need. The Lahti meeting will also seek ways to give the private sector a bigger role in adaptation finance.

The meeting continues the work that has been done by the Champions Group on Adaptation Finance. The group is composed of 11 states, supported by the European Commission and the African Development Bank, and the aim of its work is to increase the amount of adaptation finance, improve its quality and facilitate the access to it. Lahti was chosen as the venue because it is known as the European Green Capital 2021.