The climate crisis is rapidly worsening with increasingly severe and visible social, environmental, and economic impacts across the world. The window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all is rapidly closing. Recognizing the interlinkages between the triple planetary crises of climate, nature, and pollution, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the goals of the Paris Agreement and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) requires all of us to step up our efforts with urgency and scale.
In October 2023 in Marrakesh, we committed to strengthening our collaboration with our clients, development partners, civil society, the private sector and with others, to reduce poverty and inequality, and address the crises.
Acknowledging the calls from COP27 for increasing our climate ambition, we come to COP28 ready to build on the major progress and outcomes delivered during this past year:
- Record-levels of climate finance and private finance mobilization: In 2022, we jointly committed $61 billion of climate finance for low- and middle-income economies, up 18% from 2021; and close to $100 billion in all economies where we operate. In low- and middle-income countries, adaptation finance accounted for 37% of this, and our total climate cofinance reached $46 billion, of which $15 billion was private finance mobilization.
- Paris Alignment: At the 2017 One Planet Summit, we announced, together with the International Development Finance Club (IDFC), our vision to align financial flows with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and at COP24 we published our joint framework to put this into action. We published the Joint MDB Methodological Principles for Paris Alignment Assessment of new operations. We have met or are on track to meet our respective timelines to align the activities with the goals of the Paris Agreement. We continue to work together to actively share knowledge and experience, and to harmonize our approaches with each other and with the broader finance community.
- Just transition. As countries and other stakeholders ramp-up and strengthen climate action across all sectors and scales, the demand for just transition support will increase. We are supporting just transition efforts in diverse contexts and regions.
At COP28, we reaffirm our commitment to socially inclusive, gender responsive and nature positive climate and development action, taking into account our different mandates, our unique country and client networks, operating models, geographies, and expertise.
We will achieve this through:
- An increased focus on measuring results and outcomes: In October 2023, we confirmed our commitment to enhance our approach that is largely focused on our joint reporting of climate finance commitments to also tracking and reporting climate outcomes. This will enable us to better track results for climate and development priorities—for both mitigation and adaptation. To this end, at COP28 we agree to develop a common approach for reporting climate results and impact, and we will continue our close collaboration to harmonize and improve our methodologies for climate indicators.
- Analytics for impact: We are committed to scaling up analytics to better integrate climate and development, and help countries identify priorities and investment opportunities.
- Long-term Strategies (LTS): A new Joint MDB LTS Program, hosted by the World Bank, is being launched to coordinate support to countries and subnational entities for the formulation of Long-term, Low Emissions Development Strategies and other Long-Term Climate Strategies, as encouraged by the Paris Agreement. The Strategies will address decarbonization, climate-resilience, and social aspects, including just transition.
- Country-level collaboration. As part of our overall support to sustainable development and as stated jointly in October 2023, we will support country-led platforms to enhance in-country coordination and impact in all aspects of development including climate. As government-led mechanisms, the platforms can integrate a collectively reinforcing combination of policy reform, investor appetite, external support and coordinated finance and technical assistance programs of climate investments.
- Attracting private capital at scale. We are working to increase our mobilization of private capital, including for climate. Activities include enabling regulatory environments that remove distorting subsidies and require or reward green investments; greening local financial systems; developing pipelines of climate and green investments; addressing currency exchange risks; and developing innovative instruments, including blended finance, and carbon pricing instruments.
- Supporting efforts on adaptation and disaster risk management. To scale up adaptation financing, we will enhance our support for disaster risk management and building of resilience through a wide range of efforts, including planning and policy, risk assessment, preparedness for disaster and recovery, post-disaster reconstruction, financing mechanisms, capacity building and knowledge sharing. We look forward to the establishment of a loss and damage fund and commit to supporting the Early Warning for All initiative on accessible and inclusive early warning systems for all by 2027.
The climate and ecological crises are intertwined with many other global challenges. It is therefore also essential to strengthen collaboration in line with our respective mandates and governance frameworks on:
- Nature. Under the new Joint MDB Working Group on Nature, established in late 2022, we continue to implement the commitments made under the COP26 Joint MDB Statement on Nature, People, and Planet, including by launching the MDB Common Principles for Tracking Nature-Positive Finance at COP28. We will continue to identify opportunities, including through the partnerships on Sustainability-Linked Sovereign Financing for Nature and Climate.
- Water. We aim to increase the number of people benefiting from support from climate-resilient water systems, particularly in water-stressed regions. We will work collaboratively to improve water resource management and efficiency, preserve scarce public finance for water security and mobilize commercial finance and private sector participation, including through upstream reforms where necessary. We will seek to improve the sustainability of water and sanitation services, build effective policy, institutional, and regulatory environments, and enhance corporate governance and transparency in the water sector.
- Health. The climate crisis has a profound impact on health and well-being. And actions to mitigate climate change also mitigate harmful air pollution. We have committed to working together to scale up finance for climate and health. In line with our respective mandates, we are supporting countries to understand their climate-driven health risks, identify the most cost-effective solutions, and mobilize financing at the pace and scale needed. In this regard, the Development Bank Working Group for Climate-Health Finance (a network of MDBs and Public Development Banks) has developed a Joint Roadmap for Action.
- Gender. With rising temperatures and growing inequality, it is increasingly clear that the climate and social crises are interconnected, including with implications for women’s health, livelihoods, and agency. There is ample evidence that more diversity in leadership, workforces, supply chains and investment projects is associated with improved sustainability, resource management, climate mitigation and resilience. We are collaborating in identifying and expanding financing for gender responsive solutions for governments and businesses drawing on our knowledge and programmatic experience on the gender-climate nexus.
Reflecting the urgency and scale of the issues to be addressed, we are boosting our joint action on climate and development, strengthening our collaboration to scale up finance and enhance results measurement, strengthen country-level collaboration, and increase cofinancing and private sector engagement.
The statement was issued by the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Council of Europe Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the Islamic Development Bank, the New Development Bank, and the World Bank Group.