Key figures including UK energy security secretary Grant Shapps and US presidential envoy for climate John Kerry have come together in a bid to rally global efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
Today’s talks at the Climate Finance Mobilisation Forum were attended by leading figures from finance and philanthropy, as part of president Biden’s visit to the UK.
“Billions have been spent so far to accelerate the green transition already under way and the UK is delivering its £11.6 billion of international climate finance to support countries around the world – but if we want to deliver real change, we must go further and do it together,” said Shapps.
“The scale of this transition requires trillions in private investment in addition to the public funds we are spending.”
Organisations were encouraged to bring evidence of investments that could help towards achieving the emissions and decarbonisation goals set out by the Paris agreement.
Subscribe to Sustainability Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest sustainability news sent straight to your inbox each morning
“Today is about uniting with our US allies and key enablers, using this world-leading expertise for the benefit of not just our own economies but those that will be most affected by climate change impacts – updating the king and president on what we’re doing to set us all on a path to net zero and greater climate resilience by unlocking private investment,” he continued.
The energy security secretary also added that the forum was also to discuss supporting countries to achieve a more home-grown energy system and create new jobs.
Secretary Kerry said: “The climate crisis is here. It’s caused by the unabated burning of fossil fuels, and it’s going to get worse without action. No government can solve this crisis by itself. We need to work together with the private sector and philanthropy to speed up the net zero, resilient transition.”
“One important outcome of today’s event will be the ideas and potential collaborations and the tangible action and ways private finance and philanthropies can collaborate to accelerate action on the road to COP28.”
“Since day one, president Biden has taken decisive action to mobilise an unprecedented effort to tackle the climate crisis, and that work continues today in partnership with the UK to raise ambition through concerted action between the public, private and philanthropic sectors”.
The talks were followed by a gathering at Windsor Castle which included King Charles and President Biden .
