COP27: Chris Bowen’s cash plea for action on climate

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen will call on the World Bank and other multilateral ­bodies to increase funding for carbon-zero projects in the ­developing world.

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen will call on the World Bank and other multilateral ­bodies to increase funding for carbon-zero projects in the ­developing world, warning the international financial architecture is “built for a different time” and needs reform.

With rich nations coming under pressure to provide reparations for global warming, Mr Bowen will use a speech to the UN climate change conference in Egypt to say there is a moral imperative to ensure multilateral bodies provide funding for climate action without saddling ­developing nations with unsustainable debt.

In a thinly veiled warning to China and Russia, Mr Bowen will also say “all emitters, past, present and future, have a ­responsibility to act”.

“We all know this is this critical decade,” Mr Bowen will tell the conference in a speech to be delivered on Tuesday. “This means national action. But it also means multilateral action. And action by every single one of our multilateral institutions.

“Our international financial architecture was built for a different time. Some of our inter­national financial institutions are stepping up to this, our most important global task. Others are not. Just as we commit to this agenda as individual nations, our multilateral development banks – including the World Bank – must be wholeheartedly committed to this, from their purpose to their actions.

“We have a moral imperative and driving need for our institutions to work with countries across the developed and developing world. Not only to reduce emissions but respond to a changing climate and it’s economic impact on nations.

“This will mean increasing the proportion of funding spent on climate, but also ensuring that such funding doesn’t saddle ­developing countries with ­unsustainable debt.”

Mr Bowen is representing Australia at the COP27 conference, with Anthony Albanese not attending despite piling pressure on Scott Morrison to appear at COP26.

Mr Bowen has signed Australia up to a global pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030, while the government has also endorsed COP27 pledges to accelerate conservation of forests and mangroves.

He also supports having a discussion on whether rich nations need to provide financial support for developing nations to combat climate change.