Inspired by the mock UN Climate Conference COP23 session held by Professor Anson in class last week, I decided to introduce this annual climate-themed meeting to you all as now I have known much better about their fundamental purpose and achievable goals.
The wrap-up of COP23 held by Fiji last month in Bonn Germany has caught my eyes as an earth and environmental studies major. Besides focus areas of energy and water, climate finance was also the central topic of their discussion. Climate finance is unneglected which involves flows of funds from developed to developing countries to help those needed or poor ones to adapt to climate change.
Figure 9.1: COP23: Concrete Climate Action Commitments
Being surrounded by friends studying finance and management has aroused my curiosity in the financial world. Just as math is the basis for all science subjects, I believe financial knowledge lays a significant foundation for all walks of life. Although sustainability has been a concerning issue for environmentalists and policymakers, not many business enterprises would or have yet paid much attention to our environment and limited energy resources. Leader the financial market J.P. Morgan, has recently announced their new goal of $200 Billion Clean Energy Financing Commitment for long-term sustainability. I believe the goals listed in the plan on renewable energy and clean finance can be achieved by integrating the company’s own operation principles with the sustainable progress of COP23. As said by the CEO Jamie Dimon, “Business must play a leadership role in creating solutions that protect the environment and grow the economy”.
Case studies of Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) activitiesin Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Zambia done by WaterAid in 2015 reveal that only small percentage of projects were financed by international climate funds, while approvals for water security as a proportion of total funding were also tiny.
Figure 9.2: COP23: Approvals and disbursements for water security (2003-2014)
Besides the aforementioned situations in the three countries, the effects of climate change on water availability worldwide are a mixture of groundwater over-abstraction, poor governance and population growth.
The nexus between climate finance and water security definitely requires more devotion of both attention and financial support.
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