The 21st Century climate challenge

are strong efficiency and equity grounds fordeveloping decentralized, renewable energysystems. Here too, however, there are largefinancing gaps. Under an Action Plan forEnergy Access in Africa drawn up by theWorld Bank and others, strategies havebeen identified aimed at increasing accessto modern energy from 23 percent today to47 percent by 2030. 142 Implementation ofthese strategies will require an additionalUS$2 billion in concessional financingeach year—roughly double current levels.The CCMF could provide a focal pointfor international efforts to mobilize theseresources.Creating a CCMF would not entailthe development of vast new institutionalstructures. Large international bureaucraciesthat duplicate existing mechanisms will nothelp advance climate change mitigation.Neither will a ‘more-of-the-same’ model. If theworld is to unite around a common mitigationagenda, it cannot afford to continue the currentpatchwork of fragmented initiatives. Whatis needed is a multilateral framework thatlinks ambitious targets with ambitious andpractical strategies for transferring low-carbontechnologies. That framework should bedeveloped under the auspices of the UNFCCCas part of the post-2012 Kyoto Protocol. And itshould be designed and implemented througha process that gives developing countries,including the poorest countries, a real voice.The starting point is political leadership.Stringent climate change mitigation will nothappen through discrete technological fixesand bilateral dialogue. Government leadersneed to send a clear signal that the battle againstclimate change has been joined—and that thefuture will look different to the past. Thatsignal has to include a commitment on the partof developed countries to technology transferand financing for a low-carbon transition.More broadly, what is needed is a partnershipon mitigation. That partnership would be atwo-way contract. Developing countries woulddraw on international support to strengthencurrent efforts to reduce emissions, settingquantitative targets that go beyond currentplans. Developed countries would underwriteattainment of incremental elements in thesetargets, supporting nationally-owned energystrategies that deliver tangible outcomes.Developed through a CCMF framework,this approach could provide a focal point fora broad-based effort. Because a low-carbontransition is about far more than technologyand finance, specialized agencies of the UnitedNations—such as UNDP and UNEP—couldfocus on an enhanced capacity-building effort,building the human resource base for deepenergy reforms. The World Bank would bewell-placed to oversee the financing provisionsof the proposed CCMF. Its role could entailmanagement of the subsidy element in theCCMF, the blending of concessional and nonconcessionalfinance, oversight of subsidizedcredits to reduce risk, and the leveraging ofprivate sector support. At a time when thefuture role of the World Bank in much of thedeveloping world is uncertain, the CCMF couldprovide the institution with a clear missionthat links improved access to energy andenergy efficiency to climate change mitigation.Substantive engagement with the private sectorwould be imperative given its critical role infinance and technological innovation.Reducing deforestationThe world’s forests are vast repositories forcarbon. The erosion of those repositories throughdeforestation accounts for about one-fifth ofthe global carbon footprint. It follows thatpreventing deforestation can mitigate climatechange. But forests are more than a carbon bank.They play a crucial role in the lives of millionsof poor people who rely on them for food, fueland income. And tropical forests are sites of richbiodiversity. The challenge for internationalcooperation is to find ways of unlocking thetriple benefits for climate mitigation, people andbiodiversity that could be generated throughthe conservation of forests.Governments are not currently meeting thechallenge. The facts on deforestation tell theirown story (figure 3.9). Between 2000 and 2005,net forest loss worldwide averaged 73 thousandIf the world is to unitearound a commonmitigation agenda, itcannot afford to continuethe current patchwork offragmented initiatives3Avoiding dangerous climate change: strategies for mitigationHUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2007/2008 157