As the 29th UN Climate Conference (COP29) convenes global leaders, climate experts, and civil society this November in Baku, Azerbaijan to mobilise climate action, the global ambition and urgency of advancing climate finance takes center stage. This year’s COP builds upon the commitments of previous COPs, with a renewed emphasis on mobilising resources for sustainable and green transitions, protecting vulnerable communities, and driving much needed innovations to meet our collective climate goals.

Central to these discussions is the challenge of of urgently mobilising more resources needed to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. The focus on climate finance at COP29 aims to replace the USD 100 billion annual funding goal with a significantly higher goal to support the regions needing it the most.

The role of the Nordics in this effort is vital. We are known for our leadership in clean energy and investing in innovative climate solutions. At NDF, we deliver financing to projects that lead with solutions, and we continue to convey our Nordic values by supporting transparent, equal, scalable and catalytic climate finance.

Since 2009, NDF has provided EUR 563 million to finance climate adaptation and mitigation projects in the Global South. Last year, NDF's financing has contributed to delivering positive development and climate outcomes to over 57 million people —of which half are women— and vulnerable communities impacted by climate change. We, at NDF, have stepped up our contribution to meet the growing demands, and increased our annual commitments by 55% since our previous strategy period. With our highly concessional financing we have played a catalytic role and contributed towards mobilising over USD 2 billion between 2021 and 2024.

Since last year’s first-ever Global Stocktake, we have proactively worked towards mobilising climate finance to initiatives with a transformative impact. In Baku, we will showcase our catalytic finance portfolio of investments providing comprehensive support in clean energy as well as climate adaptation together with our partners. We will also talk about the importance of early warnings for all, as we have provided additional financing to the Systems Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) this year, as its anchor funder and a firm believer of the Early Warnings For All initiative.

Our partnerships are our foundation, as collaboration is key to achieving our goals. We will present how we co-finance to drive efficiency, impact and scale. We will announce our membership to the Investment Mobilisation Collaboration Alliance (IMCA), an exemplary initiative bringing partners together to mobilise financing to achieve our goals. I invite you to join us in the Nordic Pavilion and online to listen to our discussions and to meet us.

As we move forward towards COP29 and finding solutions to humanity’s most profound challenges, we call the global community to match the ambition with action and mobilise climate finance with speed and scale for solutions that can change our planet’s future. I look forward to meeting partners and like-minded people, to join forces on climate action before it’s too late.