COP26 in Glasgow

At the second Finance in Common (FiC) Summit on 19 and 20 October 2021, 500 public development banks could jointly raise their ambitions to support sustainable development globally. The fastest growing development bank in the world, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), plays a crucial role for infrastructure investments in Asia where the majority of future infrastructure projects will take place. A framework report produced by Germanwatch and collaborating NGOs from Asia analyzes the AIIB’s opportunities to align with the Paris Agreement and suggests ten climate-resilient and pro-poor principles for more sustainable and socially inclusive infrastructure.

COP26 is often considered the most important since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015. Its context underlines the urgency: In the summer of 2021, people across the globe experienced extreme weather events and their consequences. The climate summit in Glasgow – in conjunction with the G20 summit shortly before – holds the potential to significantly accelerate climate protection efforts worldwide.

In the upcoming week, the 13th meeting of the WIM ExCom will take place (April 27-30 2021). One very important issue to discuss will be – among other issues – the work of the Expert Groups as they play a major role in carrying out the activities of the ExComs workplan. Especially the work on Action and Support, Slow-onset Events and Non-economic Losses will be discussed and concrete steps for developing the respective workplans with concrete activities will have to be decided upon. The meeting will take place in a virtual format and even over one year in the COVID-19-pandemic this setting still poses some substantive challenges to the discussions and inclusiveness as well the involvement of observers.