President Bharrat Jagdeo and other members of the United Nations High Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday for a final round of talks which were expected to identify potential sources of funding for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) reported that after the meeting in Addis Ababa, the Advisory Finance Group (AFG) is expected to complete its report by the end of October and present it to the 16th Conference of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Cancun, Mexico, by the end of November. The AFG met in London and New York earlier this year.
The AFG is chaired by Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg, and has two other heads of state – Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia and President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana.
Other members of the Group of Experts come from Brazil, China, France, India, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, and the U.S.A.
And distinguished private experts include George Soros of Soros Fund Management, and Professor Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics.
During the Copenhagen Summit in December 2009 it was agreed that a US$10 billion “Fast Start” fund would ‘kick-start’ adaptation mechanisms in vulnerable countries, including small island states (SIDS) and Africa.
It was also agreed that a sum of US$100 billion per year would be raised by 2020.