BREAKING THE CYCLE: Unlocking Climate Finance for Fragile States
13th meeting of The Hague Roundtable: Hosted & co-organized by Mercy Corps Netherlands, in partnership with Fanack Water
Date: Tuesday 7 March 2023
Time: 14:00-17:15 – followed by networking reception until 18:00
Venue: Humanity Hub, The Hague; Fluwelen Burgwal 58, 2511 CJ The Hague
Click here to REGISTER – with your input on points for discussion
Background
Many fragile and conflict-affected states are highly vulnerable to climate change – yet the more fragile a country is, the less climate finance, including for adaptation and resilience, it has historically received.
- Extremely fragile states averaged $2.1 per person in adaptation financing compared to $161.7 per person for not-fragile states (Reda and Wong 2021).
- Country-specific analyses show a shortfall in how much FCS receive; for example, Niger received $6.58 per person per year, Mali received $4.27 per person per year, Zimbabwe received $2.05 per person per year, and DRC only received $0.92 per capita per year (Alcayna 2020)
Challenges to accessing and using climate finance in fragile and conflict-affected areas include a low appetite and tolerance for risk, stringent funding requirements, inflexible operational protocols, and difficulties of monitoring progress and measuring outcomes.
In the midst of these funding barriers, communities living in these vulnerable contexts are often at the forefront of climate change and are facing its most severe impacts. Recent droughts in Somalia to floods in Nigeria have demonstrated the devastating effects of increased unpredictability of weather patterns and in particular the role of water. In this context of volatility, communities’ resilience to adapt to increased hazards becomes paramount, and yet funding is often unable to reach those living in the most vulnerable areas.
In this context, Mercy Corps recently published a study to identify innovative solutions to overcoming these barriers to finance in fragile and conflict-affected areas: “Breaking the Cycle: Unlocking Climate Finance for Fragile States:” https://www.mercycorps.org/research-resources/breaking-the-cycle
Addressing this situation is more urgent than ever, in particular in this context, especially as climate experts and policy-makers are rethinking climate funding structures related to Loss and Damage, and multilateral development banks and insurance mechanisms.
The Roundtable
Bringing together a variety of stakeholders, this 13th meeting of The Hague Roundtable will discuss ways to ensure that climate finance reaches those who most need it. In particular, the Roundtable aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences and identification of solutions to channel climate finance to fragile states. Capitalizing on the scope of stakeholders in and near The Hague, the Roundtable will seek to advance ideas on:
- Designing solutions to deliver finance and enhance climate resilience in FCS
- Funding these solutions in FCS
- Delivering these solutions in FCS
Roundtable Agenda
| Time | Session |
| 14:00-14:20 | Introduction Matt Luna, Organizer, Hague Roundtable on Climate & Security Barbara Rosen Jacobson, Advocacy Advisor Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance, Mercy Corps With Fanack Water |
| 14:20-15:20 | Technical Session: Climate finance in fragile and conflict-affected situations Adrianna Hardaway, Senior Policy Advisor, Mercy Corps Yue Cao, Independent Researcher Diane Sheinberg, Program Manager, UN Peacebuilding Fund – Virtual Intervention from Juliane Schillinger, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and introduction of the case study for the breakout session |
| 15:20-15:40 | Coffee and networking break |
| 15:40-16:00 | Blue Skies thinking (Breakout Session #1) Participants will divide into groups and work through the following scenario: What radical change is needed to direct climate finance to fragile states? |
| 16:00-16:20 | Back to reality: Identifying solutions for climate finance in fragile states (Breakout Session #2) Building on the scenario from the first session, participants will discuss what changes must take place to improve the reach and impact of climate finance in fragile and conflict affected situations. |
| 16:20-17:00 | Presentations from the discussion groups and plenary discussion |
| 17:00 17:15 | Closing and next steps |
| 17:15-18:00 | Networking reception |
Outputs:
- A Roundtable report from the meeting will be produced to include joint recommendations for climate finance in FCS to inform processes of designing, funding and implementing programs to enhance climate finance in FCS.
- The recommendations of the Roundtable meeting will feed into the results of a discussion series on climate finance in FCS, of which the outcomes will be published ahead of COP28.
- The recommendations will also be provided to the organizers of the UN 2023 Water Conference to contribute to discussions on water security and DDR in the context of floods.
Contact
Matt Luna, Roundtable Organizer & Founder
luna1matt (at) outlook.com
Website:hagueroundtable.com Twitter:@HagueRoundtable
The Hague Roundtable on Climate & Security 