"EU finance ministers call for transparency in climate finance", 6 Nov 2018

Following a meeting in Brussels, the ministers emphasised that public finance alone “can never be sufficient” in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the effects of climate change. Public policy must therefore clear the way for sustainable investments from the private sector, they said...

Strong transparency rules underpinning the Paris climate agreement will help keep track of the progress countries make towards their pledges, including for financial aid, the ministers stressed.

The transparency framework is one of the most contentious issues in negotiations ahead of next month’s Cop24 summit, where countries must agree on rules for meeting the Paris Agreement...

In addition, the ministers urged multilateral development banks (MDBs) to do their part and “adopt responsible investment policies and to phase out the financing of coal power plants”.

The Council of the EU “calls on MDBs to speed up the alignment of their activities with the objective of making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development,” the ministers said.