Q&A
NDF at COP30 – Questions and Answers
What is the COP process?
Since 1995, the Conference of the Parties (COP) has gathered the signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for negotiations on climate action. In addition to the negotiations, COP is also a platform that brings together climate actors from across the globe: Academia providing research and evidence, NGOs and civil society bringing voices from the ground, the private sector offering concrete solutions and innovations, and financiers showing how to scale these up.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the process. COP30 will be held in Belém, Brazil from 10 to 21 November. NDF will participate in the conference as a partner of the Nordic Pavilion, hosted by the Nordic Council of Ministers. Through our participation, we advance Nordic climate leadership and contribute to scaling up solutions for the planet’s most urgent challenges and people most at risk.
What are the main themes at COP30?
At last year’s COP in Baku, the Parties agreed on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for climate finance. The Goal highlights that both public and private financing are needed to bridge the urgent gaps in financing. Through our participation, NDF informed the COP community of our experiences of early-stage, catalytic finance from the perspective of a concessional financier.
Preceding COP30, all Parties are expected to submit new national climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs). COP30 is expected to focus on the implementation of climate plans and agreements, including an implementation of the Baku to Belém Roadmap for the new financing goal, aiming to scale up climate finance up to 1.3 trillion USD.
Another key focal area will be adaptation, and the Parties are expected to negotiate on indicators to track progress towards the Global Goal on Adaptation. COP30 will also highlight the interrelatedness of climate and nature action, and the need to scale up nature-positive climate solutions.
The role of local actors and locally-led solutions will also be highlighted at this year’s COP. While negotiations at COP focus on national commitments, actors such as regional governments, cities, and communities including Indigenous Peoples are highlighted. They are not just at the frontlines of climate change, but they drive many solutions to our most urgent challenges.
What is NDF's role at COP30?
At the Nordic Pavilion at COP30, NDF will bring partners together around innovative climate solutions and showcase tangible contributions to a sustainable future. At the events we organise, we will shed light on our approach to strategically using our catalytic early-stage financing to scale up innovative climate solutions. We do this by using our concessionary financial toolbox flexibly, always with the aim of maximising our impact to target critical gaps, including climate adaptation and resilience. We do this in collaboration with our global partners.
What are NDF’s key messages at COP30?
NDF advances Nordic climate leadership through innovative, catalytic, and risk-tolerant concessional financing in lower-income countries. We work with our strategic partners to develop and scale impactful projects to benefit those most vulnerable to climate change, highlighting gender equality and locally-led solutions. At COP30, we will showcase the impact that NDF’s work has in advancing global development and climate action, and the lessons we can provide from our work.
At this year’s COP, we want to highlight that scaling up climate finance remains critical. While climate mitigation must remain a key goal, financing for climate adaptation and resilience in the most vulnerable countries is lagging behind. As a catalytic and early-stage financier, we emphasise the importance of combining public and private resources to accelerate climate solutions.
Through our events at COP30, we want to emphasise that innovation and knowledge-sharing is key, and through collaborative action, research and technology, the global response to climate change can be accelerated.
In these turbulent times, NDF continues to advance Nordic values and priorities, by ensuring our financing goes to the most impactful projects accelerating climate action. Nordic leadership in climate action is a strength, and NDF showcases the Nordic region’s agility and commitment to international cooperation as a model for global action.
We continue to highlight the importance of working together with partners and come together for impactful climate action.
