Minister of Environment and Climate Steven Guilbeault announced on Wednesday a $450 million contribution to the second replenishment of the Green Climate Fund (GCF)..The GFC is the world’s largest dedicated climate change fund and a critical funding mechanism of the Paris Agreement..“Canada remains committed to support partners in the Global South fight climate change while addressing biodiversity loss around the world," Guilbeault said..The contribution is a 50% increase from Canada’s 2019 pledge to the GCF’s first replenishment..The feds said the funding provided, which is part of Canada’s $5.3 billion climate finance commitment, "will directly support developing countries’ clean energy transitions and climate-resilient sustainable development as more extreme climate impacts are being felt around the globe."."By increasing our contribution by 50%, we demonstrate our trust to the Green Climate Fund’s efforts in funding innovative solutions to the climate crisis," Guilbeault said..The feds said through its contribution to the GCF, Canada is helping lead the clean energy transition and meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius climate target.."Funding announced today could, for example, enable the advancement of clean and renewable energy projects in Indonesia and across the Southeast Asia region, aiding countries as they drive the transition from coal-fired power," the federal government stated.."Helping achieve this transition is a key element of Canada’s support for the region as part of its Indo-Pacific Strategy.".Following the adoption of the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework, the feds said Canada welcomes the GCF’s leadership in supporting developing countries’ actions to conserve, restore and protect nature and biodiversity..In 2022, Guilbeault and Jennifer Morgan, German State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action, published the Climate Finance Delivery Plan Progress Report, which outlines the steps contributors are taking to meet the goal this year and are continuing the dialogue with other countries to ensure their commitments are upheld..In 2021, Canada doubled its official international climate finance commitment to $5.3 billion over five years..Canada’s total climate finance also goes beyond its official climate finance commitment and includes funding export credit support, core contributions to multilateral development banks (MDBs), private finance mobilized through public investments, support from FinDev Canada, and other international assistance with a climate change component..In 2021, Canada provided and mobilized over $1.53 billion in climate finance from all sources, which is a 12% increase from 2020.."Contributing to the GCF replenishment in 2023 is critical to secure a successful COP28," Guilbeault said.."We call on every contributor to commit to increase their pledges by at least 50% ahead of the pledging session in October of 2023.”
