How can African and developing countries unleash opportunities to galvanize green national investment plans, such as green public-private partnerships and private finance? Faced with multiplying global crises, green national investment plans are an important tool for governments to continue incorporating environmental dimensions, reach the goals of the Paris Agreement, and create more resilient societies in the process. Nonetheless, financing remains a critical barrier to achieving global environmental goals, and a substantial proportion of global investment continues to flow into carbon-intensive industries.
High-level speakers from business, government, and civil society explored avenues for African and developing countries to green their national investment plans at a virtual side-event to the Financing for Development Forum, co-organized by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development of Egypt, UNDP, and UN-SPBF on 18 April 2023. “Let this ministerial session serve as a platform for dialogue, solutions, collaboration, and innovation on how to get to where we need to be,” said Shereen Zorba, Head of the UN-SPBF and the event’s moderator, as the session began.
The session indeed represented an important new step in capitalizing on the COP27 Presidency’s announcement of the “Friends of Greening National Investment Plans in Africa and Developing Countries” initiative. The initiative, which aims to help developing countries increase the share of green projects in their national investment plans by at least 30% by 2030, received substantial press coverage, with one outlet noting that it “proves that a country’s own socioeconomic circumstance is no longer a determining factor of ambitious policy.” (WEF, 2023)
A large and engaged audience of over 160 attendees joined the conversation to reflect on questions of resource mobilization and budgeting, capacity building in the technology revolution, and the just transition. After Mona Esam, Assistant Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Egypt opened the event, Hala El Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Egypt, underscored that while Africa’s contribution to the climate crisis is negligible, it stands out as the most vulnerable to its effects, risking reversing hard gains achieved by African countries in recent years. She highlighted several of Egypt’s initiatives, including the environmental sustainability criteria guidelines launched in 2019.
The issue of equity resonated throughout the event. UN Climate Champion for COP27 Mahmoud Mohie El-Din reiterated that it is “not fair that my rich neighbor pollutes the environment and I endure debts to achieve mitigation and adaptation.” He called for a cap on borrowing, and for more subsidies to come from the commitments by developed countries to mobilize 100 billion per year by 2020 for climate action in developing countries, which have yet to be fulfilled. In another intervention, El Said stressed that the calls to reform the Bretton Woods architecture, voiced at COP27, should be heard by more actors.
The session also touched on Africa and developing countries’ ambitions to become a hub for green capacity, manufacturing, and the technology revolution, beyond being a market for products. Harry Verhaar, Head of Global Public and Government Affairs, Signify, pointed to benefits in “leapfrogging” to more advanced technology in developing countries, as digital technology can be consolidated in larger projects that can be attractive to financiers. Alessandro Fracassetti, UNDP Resident Representative in Egypt, said creating an enabling environment for the private and international sectors to invest in green economies was essential. María Paz Gutiérrez Montes, International Finance Coordination Advisor, Ministry of Finance of Chile, reported on the Chilean experience that greening finance requires data generation and inter-ministerial and public-private coordination. Finally, Estherine Fotabong, Director of Agriculture, Food Security & Environmental Sustainability, New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) called for looking at policy tools that would help to mitigate risk for green investment in the continent.
The event counted on a large presence of civil society actors, both as panelists and in the audience, who continuously asked questions and raised significant points. Djatougbe Aziaka, on behalf of the UNEP Major Group Facilitating Committee, asked for the “Friends of Greening National Investment Plans” initiative to include a multistakeholder approach inclusive of the most vulnerable groups. Martin Brocklehurst, Citizen Science Global Partnership, called for greater involvement of citizen scientists.
“Let us take these steps forward,” Zorba concluded. “We are taking this initiative forward with rapid steps, ensuring that the African COP continues to have an impact with the help of international partners, communities, and the private sector.”