Author: Kathy Nothstine, Head of Future Cities, Challenge Works

In November 2022, the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt will host the 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (COP 27), with a view to building on previous successes and paving the way for future ambitions to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change. Established under Article 7.1 of the Paris Agreement in 2015, UNFCC aims to provide a framework to define the process, action and support needed to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability, while contributing to sustainable development.

Among the key focus areas at COP 27 are a shift from pledging to implementation; making climate finance a reality; and ensuring a managed and just transition in line with the Paris Agreement. As a major stakeholder in mitigation and adaptation, and to coincide with London Climate Action Week, Challenge Works (the new name for Nesta Challenges) published a  paper calling on climate funders to use high-impact challenge prizes to incentivise solutions to the planetary emergency – from tackling droughts and wildfires to democratising energy access and alleviating mounting food insecurity.

The paper, Climate Possible: How Funders Can Accelerate Innovation for a Resilient Future, presents real-world scenarios where challenge prizes can be used to pinpoint problems ripe for action while sharing relevant examples of success from previous initiatives. The paper postulates that a critical rethink is needed of how innovation funding is deployed – especially if we are going to deliver on net-zero promises and keep warming well-below 1.5C, in line with the Paris Agreement.

If we want to address some of the most defining issues of our time such as climate change, food insecurity, diseases and pandemics, diminishing biodiversity, economic inequality and even conflicts and strife, we must act now to protect the state of our ocean as set out in the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water.

Advancement of Goal 14 is guided by specific targets that focus on an array of ocean issues, including reducing marine pollution, protecting marine and coastal ecosystems, minimising acidification, ending illegal and overfishing, increasing investment in scientific knowledge and marine technology, and respecting international law that calls for the safe and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources.

At Challenge Works, we believe the climate crisis is the biggest threat facing humanity, but technology and innovation can play a key role in helping us navigate this uncertain future. Notably, human ingenuity – in the form of new technologies, ideas, businesses and services – can help us build resilient communities, reduce our exposure to extremes of heat or weather, and better survive natural disasters. And it can help us tread lighter, mitigating climate change through bringing down greenhouse gas emissions, generating clean energy, cutting waste or producing food sustainably.

We therefore welcome a recent announcement by a group of European development banks’ plan to double funding for global efforts to stop plastic waste from polluting the world's oceans to 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion) by 2025. The Clean Oceans Initiative, led by the French and German development banks and the European Investment Bank, is the largest such grouping targeting plastic pollution.

The new target for 2025 builds on an initial funding goal of 2 billion euros by 2023, 80% of which has already been allocated to projects in countries including Sri Lanka, China and Egypt that will benefit more than 20 million people, the group said.

Last year, the World Bank Group also announced its new Climate Change Action Plan that aims to deliver record levels of climate finance to developing countries, reduce emissions, strengthen adaptation, and align financial flows with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The Action Plan for 2021-25 broadens World Bank Group efforts from investing in “green” projects to helping countries fully integrate their climate and development goals. The Plan also comes as countries seek sustainable pathways out of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the current levels of funding available for climate change-related initiatives will be insufficient to address the future financial flows estimated to be required for adaptation and mitigation measures under a strengthened future climate change agreement, post-2012. Developing countries currently receive only 20 to 25 per cent of the investment they need for climate change mitigation and adaptation, which only represents approximately 46 per cent of the total that will be required by 2030.

While a few States have been able to undertake initial actions to combat climate change using their own financial resources (as a result of their own economic growth), the energy demand in developing countries is projected to increase immensely, which will require additional resources. These are the issues that must be addressed at COP 27.

In his inaugural address to the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Kenyan President Dr William Ruto aptly summed it thus: “As members of the international community, we will support a successful international climate summit in Africa this November by demanding delivery of the finance and technology needed by Africa to adapt to climate impacts, support those in need, and manage the energy transition. At this meeting, we must move decisively from talk to on-the-ground action that benefits every African.”