Q&A
NDF at COP31 – Questions and Answers
What is the COP process? Why does COP31 matter in the current global context?
Since 1995, the Conference of the Parties (COP) has brought together the signatories of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change for annual negotiations. The Conferences are an important platform for multilateral action, convening civil society, researchers, businesses, financiers and other stakeholders alongside governments, with the joint aim of negotiating on climate commitments and turning commitments into action.
This year’s Conference will convene in November, during what is expected to be the beginning of the most severe effects of the “Super El Niño”. At the same time, it has become apparent that avoiding overshooting 1.5°C is no longer possible. Against this backdrop, the Super El Niño is compounding the impacts of climate change and worsening extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, and fires. For NDF’s partners, these direct impacts of climate change are expected to exacerbate existing vulnerabilities, threatening the livelihoods and food security of smallholder farmers, rural SMEs, and communities most vulnerable to climate-induced shocks. All of this is happening at a time when climate finance is scarce, and multilateral cooperation faces growing challenges.
For NDF, this moment illustrates the importance of acting together, with urgency. As the Nordic international finance institution, representing one of the most closely integrated regions of the world, NDF brings a strong message to COP: We must act together, with speed, and deliver climate finance where it is needed.
There is growing evidence that green and sustainable development pathways are possible, and that resilience to climate change can be increased. Through collaboration on climate action underpinned by appropriate financing, positive change is possible. The Nordic countries can help demonstrate that ambitious climate action, while international cooperation and practical solutions remain in focus.
What are the key themes of COP31?
Recent COPs have made progress in moving from agreements on financing goals, towards implementation plans, to tracking progress. At COP29, the Parties agreed on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for climate finance, based on the first Global Stocktake of progress on the implementation of the Paris Agreement at COP28. At COP30, negotiations focused on delivering on these commitments, and on the practical ways to track progress. COP31 is expected to build on these milestones by making progress on negotiations related to themes including adaptation and resilience, and clean energy access.
According to UNEP, the adaptation finance gap is now US$284–339 billion per year until 2035, with needs that are 12–14 times current finance flows. This scale of needs, at a time of a Super El Niño, makes the urgency of coming together at COP clear. Closing this financing gap is also central to NDF’s work: NDF focuses strongly on adaptation and resilience, using flexible, catalytic financing to mobilise additional resources for lower-income and climate-vulnerable countries, particularly where commercial finance is limited. With this work, we are directly contributing to closing the gaps where it is most needed.
How will NDF engage at COP31? What does NDF hope to contribute?
Against the backdrop of fractured multilateralism and climate-induced extreme weather events, COP31 represents an important moment for countries to come together and collectively agree on how to tackle the biggest challenges of our time.
For NDF, the message from our partners and the global climate community is clear: Public and private actors must pool together their resources, expertise and risk-taking capacity to close climate financing gaps, particularly in sectors and geographies most in need of concessional finance.
NDF will contribute to COP by sharing our experiences in delivering climate finance where it matters most. We will convene partners around nature-positive and adaptation finance, and highlight concrete investment opportunities at the nexus of climate and development. NDF will demonstrate how collaboration can accelerate climate innovation, mobilise public and private capital, and deliver finance to vulnerable communities. At a time when multilateralism is under pressure and climate risks are materialising, NDF will emphasise the urgency of moving from commitments to implementation.
