ABSTRACT
Sharing the burden of climate change involves – for all stakeholders – at once reducing GHG emissions to hold the global mean temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and recognising that inevitable climate impacts are already locked in as a consequence of the rapid accumulation of GHGs in the atmosphere over many centuries.
Global value chains are a constellation of stakeholders with roles to play in both of these aspects of managing climate change: from corporations with decision-making authority over procurement of smallholder farmers supplying raw materials for production, and including service providers in transport, information technology, or financial services, all actors can contribute to reducing emissions, to increasing climate resilience and to ensuring that this is achieved by providing broader and more inclusive access to goods, services and to the economy in general.
Communities that share the burden of climate change often share economic or trade relations, which can be shaped to reduce its weight, but building resilience requires investments at scale – far above the promised $100 billion per year in climate finance. The private sector in particular funds project pipelines, incentivises resilience across geographically dispersed supply chains and provides access to its products and services via innovative business models to enable vulnerable communities to rebound from climate impacts.
Climate finance must be complemented to include, in addition to project funding matched with project financing, all of the available levers that move money around the globe. This includes public money, private investments and procurement from both the public and the private sectors. It must further be bolstered by business models that favour access to assets that strengthen the resilience of all stakeholders. Finally, climate finance must be guided by principles of fairness that promote equality, inclusiveness, and the transformative power of climate resilience.
