DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES––Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno has stressed the urgency of setting up the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance in order to strengthen countries’ climate action during a high-level ministerial dialogue as part of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) on December 3, 2023.

The 2023 High-level Ministerial Dialogue (HLMD) on the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance was informed by the reports on the technical expert dialogues and submissions made by Parties and non-Party stakeholders in the context of ad hoc work programme on the NCQG on climate finance.

The HLMD was represented by over 183 Parties. It aimed to substantively advance shared understanding of the goal and provide guidance on the direction of the ad hoc work programme upon the establishment of the NCQG in the next year.

“The New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance should be established without further delays,” Secretary Diokno said.

COP 21 decided that before 2025, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) shall set a NCQG starting at a minimum of US$ 100 billion per year, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries.

The CMA 3 then established a work program for 2022 to 2024, with co-chairs from developed and developing countries, and committed to holding four technical expert dialogues each year.

The co-chairs will be responsible for preparing the annual report, including key findings from the dialogues.

The HLMDs have been held annually beginning in 2022 until 2024 to ensure political engagement and guidance for the work program, with the President of the COP summarizing the discussions for CMA consideration.

Secretary Diokno emphasized the need to ensure that NCQG will sustain and enhance both the quality and quantity of climate finance.

He recommended setting up a five-year timeframe to ensure coherence in the overall climate action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

To address implementation gaps in the provision of climate finance, the quality of climate finance must be anchored on the principles of transparency, accessibility, predictability, and efficiency.

According to the Finance Secretary, transparency in climate finance can be enhanced by making goals science- and evidence-based; establishing the operational definition of climate finance; and stating the timeframes and commitments from climate finance providers.

Quantity, on the other hand, must be scaled up by exhausting all possible financial resources.

As he mentioned in his previous dialogues, climate finance must be demand-driven and priority-based to ensure that it is aligned with a country’s development pathways.

“The clarity of this new goal will define the predictability of our climate actions. Finally, we must collectively commit to deliver real progress in setting up the NCQG in 2024,” Secretary Diokno said in closing.