Minister’s Brief

Paris Agreement (Paris COP 21)
At the 2015 UNFCCC Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in Paris, the Taoiseach, in his
National Statement on behalf of Ireland, said that Ireland was committed to scaling up
international climate finance and to this end would: i) commence contributions to the Green
Climate Fund in 2016; ii) maintain its existing international climate contribution level through
to 2020 and iii), also examine ways to mobilise private climate finance from Ireland to further
contribute to the 2020 USD 100 bn. climate finance goal.
The agreement reached at the Paris Conference confirmed that an existing US$100bn target
for annual financial flows from developed to developing countries - to be reached by 2020 -
remains unchanged through to 2025 with the proviso that a new figure – with the US$100bn
figure as a ‘floor’ – will be agreed before that year. Contributors to the target continue,
however, to be developed countries as defined so that climate finance from the likes of China,
the second biggest economy in the world, is excluded from counting towards the $100bn
sum.
Green Climate Fund (GCF)
The Government agreed, in January 2016, that Ireland will make an initial contribution of €2m
to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a conduit established under the auspices of the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for channelling financing for climate
change adaptation and mitigation to developing countries Engagement with the Fund has
already been initiated and is being conducted by the Department of Finance which will also
provide the representation for Ireland at the GCF. The Government has also agreed that any
further contributions to the Fund in 2017 and subsequently would be subject to enabling
legislation to be progressed during 2016 as well as to prevailing financial circumstances.
Currently, drafting of the necessary legislation to underpin Ireland’s relationship with the GCF
is being pursued with the AGO.
In addition, preparatory work is to be undertaken in 2016 to investigate possibilities of
encouraging private sector sources to contribute to international climate finance for
developing countries.
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