On October 27th, policy makers, research institutions and non-governmental organizations from several EU countries took part in the final webinar of the “Landscape of climate finance: Promoting debate on climate finance flows in Central Europe” project. The discussion covered global tracking climate-related investment and finance flows and recent work in this area in the CEE region.
Specifically, the webinar aimed to:
- Provide an updated overview of the state of knowledge on tracking climate-related investment at the global and national levels
- Explore the usefulness of this form of data collection and analysis for policymaking, particularly as countries move forward with COVID recovery plans
- Present the recent work of CEE regional experts regarding landscapes of climate finance for specific sectors
The event was organized within the framework of the EUKI-supported project “Landscape of Climate Finance: Promoting debate on climate finance flows in Central Europe”, jointly implemented by I4CE, NewClimate Institute and WiseEuropa.
The webinar was opened by project partners and Ulrike Leis, Senior Advisor at European Climate Initiative (EUKI), who presented the overview of the EUKI’s work and framework for future projects. During the first session Climate Investment: From Global to National Challenges – How Can Climate Finance Tracking Support Post-COVID Recovery Plans?, Aki Kachi, climate policy analyst at NewClimate Institute provided a summary of the current trends in green recovery measures and Hadrien Hainaut, project manager at I4CE presented French example of connecting Landscape studies with the process of designing Recovery Plans. The presentations were followed by participants’ discussion highlighting the need to monitor the implementation of climate commitments and targets both in terms of quantity and quality of financial flows.
The second session was focused on climate finance tracking at the national level in CEE countries, in which webinar participants had a chance to exchange and discuss methodological approaches. Firstly, Zofia Wetmańska, analyst at WiseEuropa, presented results of the Polish Landscape of Climate Finance in energy and buildings sectors and Michaela Valentová, a researcher at Czech Technical University in Prague, prepared an overview of Czech Landscape of Climate Finance. In the following part of the webinar, Agris Kamenders, managing director of Ecodoma and docent of Riga Technical University, shared experiences and lessons from Latvian Landscape.
During the discussion, participants shared their insights on the gaps and opportunities for Slovakia related to the tracking of low-emission investment in the context of COVID-19 recovery plans, as well as explained how climate finance landscapes can be helpful in the process of recovery strategies in the CEE countries. Among the final remarks, CEE representatives assessed the impact of Landscape studies on the policymaking process and outlined practical uptake of those results in national and sectoral strategies.
The event offered a rare opportunity for the intra-CEE dialogue on sustainable finance, establishing a strong foundation for further exchanges both within the project and beyond.
The detailed agenda of the meeting, as well as presentations and key remarks from the discussions are available via the following links: