After a disappointing 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25), a lot rests on this year’s summit to be held in the United Kingdom in November.

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The Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund’s (UCCRTF) key financing partner, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), will play an important role in helping to shape the next round of negotiations. After COP25 in Madrid last year, there is a need to restore confidence that the intergovernmental process can deliver on mitigation, adaptation, and finance.

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Financing climate action in developing countries remains a cornerstone issue at the conference. Delegates try to ensure that developed countries meet the target of $100 billion in financial flows to developing countries by 2020, which was the agreement in Copenhagen at COP15.

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DFID’s wide ranging expertise on issues of urban climate change resilience around the world will be an asset to the conference, which is expected to have a strong focus on adaptation and risk reduction.  

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For its part, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) last year hit its commitment of doubling climate-related financing ahead of schedule. ADB, who was the first multilateral development bank to make a climate financing commitment at the climate summit in 2015, reached a record high of more than $6 billion.

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ADB has also further strengthened its climate targets to ensure that at least 75% of its operations focus on climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, while providing $80 billion in cumulative climate financing by 2030.