29 October 2024

Partnering with the CFMCA

PAGE’s collaboration with the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action

In line with its new Strategy, UNEP under PAGE is supporting the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action (CFMCA) by providing technical input on nature finance and fiscal reforms. This partnership allows finance ministers from PAGE countries to engage in important discussions on financing transitions to low-carbon and nature-positive economies. By combining PAGE’s expertise with the Coalition’s network, ministers can better drive sustainable economic transformations aligned with national and global climate goals.

The Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action was created in 2019 and now has 92 members, including all the G7 countries, and 27 Institutional Partners. It brings together economic, fiscal and financial economic policymakers in leading the global climate response and in securing a just transition towards low-carbon resilient development. On 23 October, the Coalition’s Ministerial Meeting endorsed Uganda as its new Co-Chair, succeeding Indonesia, whose term will end in Spring 2025

Africa’s Finance Ministers Unite for Climate Action

PAGE partner countries Senegal and Mauritius expressed interest in joining the coalition at the first African regional convening of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action held in Kampala on 16-17 July 2024. The event underscored the need for innovative financial strategies to address the continent’s climate adaptation challenges. The discussions brought together 20 African Finance Ministries and centered on investing in sustainability for economic benefits, with highlights including green industrialization and collaboration between Finance and Environment Ministries.

PAGE was represented at the event by its technical team members. Luciana Fontes De Meira, member of the PAGE technical team and programme management officer in the Industry and Economy Division in UNEP, introduced the PAGE programme and facilitated a discussion on “The Role of Ministries of Finance in Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development”. She emphasized that climate change issues are fundamentally economic, necessitating their integration into economic and fiscal policy frameworks. Ministries of Finance play a crucial role in this regard, given their capacity to domestically mobilize resources to address climate challenges.

Advancing Climate Resilience and Economic Growth at the Asian Regional Meeting of Finance Ministers

The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) put forward the discussions on nature finance as part of the Asian Regional Meeting of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, held in Manila, Philippines, on 27 and 28 August 2024.

During the event, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) co-led a dedicated session on nature finance. This session delved into cutting-edge mechanisms such as green bonds, biodiversity offsets, and ecosystem service payments, which have the potential to significantly bolster biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration efforts.

Annabelle Trinidad, Senior Technical Advisor at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Luciana Fontes de Meira, technical team member of PAGE and programme officer at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), facilitated discussions on how these financial tools can attract and drive sustainable investments into nature-based solutions, thus contributing to broader environmental and economic goals.

Luciana Fontes de Meira, Programme Officer, Economic and Trade Policy Unit, UNEP at Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action - Manila 2024

Advancing Nature Finance and Fiscal Reforms

At CBD COP16, PAGE through UNEP, supported the events led by the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action (CFMCA) which focused on aligning financial flows with the Global Biodiversity Framework, closing the biodiversity finance gap, and mainstreaming biodiversity into macroeconomic policies.

The conference marked the first time the Coalition and its partners – the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Finance for Biodiversity Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Bank Group – brought together on 28-29 October 2024 representatives of finance ministries, heads of international development organizations and CEOs of leading finance organizations to discuss the potential solutions to successful implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

At COP16, key outcomes included commitments from finance leaders to integrate biodiversity and nature-positive approaches into national economic strategies, advancing PAGE’s goal of embedding sustainability into fiscal frameworks.