New Collective Quantified Goal
Central to the discussions was the importance of ensuring financing and resources are mobilised to support policy and action for children displaced in the context of climate change. This included exploring opportunities to influence the New Collective Quantified Goal (a new global climate finance goal to be set “from a floor” of USD 100 billion per year, to take effect post-2025) to be agreed at COP29 – to elevate attention to the need for child-sensitive climate finance.
Potential next steps
- Engage with the negotiators (with special emphasis on the negotiators from the “champion” countries).
- Develop a common position on child-centred and displacement-sensitive climate finance to develop more granular, evidence-based and policy-relevant recommendations.
- Participate in the ninth expert dialogue in Colombia (including a submission to propose the inclusion of displaced children’s rights in the dialogue).
Community-based funding
There was consensus that leveraging existing mechanisms to ensure funding reaches communities that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change is key. For example, replicating or scaling up successful models to deliver the LDC fund to communities in Uganda, or the Global Center for Climate Mobility’s local funding mechanisms.
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SPOTLIGHT: Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) – scaling and replicating a successful financing model
The LDCF is enabling Least Developed Countries to prepare for a more resilient future. LDCF funding helps recipient countries address their short-, medium-, and long-term resilience needs and reduce climate change vulnerability in priority sectors and ecosystems.
LDCF support helps countries implement National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPAs) – country-driven strategies for addressing their most urgent adaptation needs. It also supports the implementation of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and the Least Developed Countries work programme under the UNFCCC. The LDCF works with partner agencies to bolster technical and institutional capacity at the national and local level, to create a policy environment that encourages investment in adaptation solutions, to reduce systemic barriers to progress, and to promote innovation and private sector engagement.
Potential next steps:
- Document lessons learned from the experiences with disbursing small grants at community level for adaptation / children’s benefit and use this evidence to catalyse new/more small grants facilities – disbursing 80% of fund to communities – work with them (part of project design)
Loss and Damage Fund
The COP and the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) established a fund to assist developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in responding to the associated economic and non-economic loss and damage. The Fund will be accountable to and function under the guidance of the COP and the CMA; its governance structure is being established throughout 2024. This is a timely opportunity to carve out space for a focus on children / displacement and relocation within the fund.
Potential next steps:
- Engaging board members – and fostering champions on displacement and children to help shape the new Loss and Damage Fund.
- Establish a dedicated portion of the Loss and Damage Fund that is specifically for children (e.g., 25%) and further, mandate a % of money to reach communities – define ‘child-sensitive’ criteria that describe eligibility for the child-dedicated money.
International Financial Institutions (IFIs) – African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank
Participants discussed the opportunity to build on and leverage existing work plans between the Office of the Special Adviser on Solutions to Internal Displacement and the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to fund efforts to prevent displacement crises in the context of climate change and minimise risks for children.
Potential next steps:
- Explore opportunities to engage with the ADB and AfDB on prevention of internal displacement and child-sensitive solutions.
Climate donorship
Participants explored the concept of ‘good climate donorship’ to support engagement with public and private sector donors on climate and children. Good donorship was determined to entail providing financial support to initiatives, projects, or organisations in a transparent, accountable, and ethical manner. It should involve openly communicating funding criteria, ensuring efficient use of funds, adhering to ethical standards, collaborating with stakeholders, empowering recipients, promoting long-term sustainability, and being flexible and adaptable in approach. By adhering to these principles, donors can maximise the positive impact of their contributions and contribute to meaningful social, environmental, and economic outcomes.
Potential next steps:
- ‘Climate donorship’ – a research, partnership and action initiative to foster principles/modalities for action/Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) frameworks for climate and development financiers to be more accountable to recipients especially children.