UN Green Climate Fund Pledges Reach $9.3 bln

The UN’s Green Climate Fund is seeking contributions to fund projects in climate-vulnerable counties over 2024-2027, aiming to exceed the $10 billion - Reuters
The UN’s Green Climate Fund is seeking contributions to fund projects in climate-vulnerable counties over 2024-2027, aiming to exceed the $10 billion - Reuters
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UN Green Climate Fund Pledges Reach $9.3 bln

The UN’s Green Climate Fund is seeking contributions to fund projects in climate-vulnerable counties over 2024-2027, aiming to exceed the $10 billion - Reuters
The UN’s Green Climate Fund is seeking contributions to fund projects in climate-vulnerable counties over 2024-2027, aiming to exceed the $10 billion - Reuters

The United Nations Green Climate Fund reached around $9.3 billion in pledges for its second replenishment round to help vulnerable countries cope with climate change, the fund’s facilitator said on Thursday.

The UN’s Green Climate Fund is seeking contributions to fund projects in climate-vulnerable counties over 2024-2027, aiming to exceed the $10 billion it raised in its last three-year round.

The amount did not include the United States, which is still working on its announcement but its representative said it was not in a position to pledge at a conference in Bonn on Thursday due to ongoing uncertainty in its budget process, according to Reuters.

The amount represents just a fraction of the $200 billion - $250 billion that developing countries will need every year by 2030 to adapt to climate change, according to an estimate given Wednesday in a UN Framework Convention on Climate Change report that showed how the costs of preparing for climate impacts and the damages from extreme weather events continue to mount.

A climate funding conference in Bonn, Germany, on Thursday saw a handful of countries add cash to the Green Climate Fund – the UN’s main funding arm for dispersing climate finance.

Among those donating were Japan, which said it would contribute up to 165 billion yen ($1.11 billion) over 2024-2027, and Norway, which offered around $300 million.

There were no new funding pledges made from the world’s top two polluters, the United States and China.

A US representative said the country was not in a position to pledge due to uncertainty in its domestic budget process, but was “working on” an announcement. China, meanwhile, has yet to agree to join wealthy countries in providing climate finance through the UN system.

Australia, Italy, and Sweden said they also were also working on contributions, but did not make pledges on Thursday. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is aiming to exceed the $10 billion in contributions it raised in its last three-year round.



Egypt's Net Foreign Assets Retreat in April after March Jump

A general view of the new headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt, at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt December 8, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
A general view of the new headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt, at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt December 8, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
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Egypt's Net Foreign Assets Retreat in April after March Jump

A general view of the new headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt, at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt December 8, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
A general view of the new headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt, at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt December 8, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

Egypt's net foreign assets (NFAs) fell by $1.5 billion in April, central bank data showed on Wednesday, retreating from March, when the approval of the fourth review of the country's IMF program sparked a jump.

NFAs slid to the equivalent of $13.54 billion, from $15.08 billion at the end of March, according to Reuters calculations based on official central bank currency exchange rates.

In March, NFAs jumped by $4.9 billion after the International Monetary Fund approved the disbursement to Egypt of $1.2 billion after completing its review of the country's $8 billion economic reform program, Reuters reported.

The IMF also approved a request for a $1.3 billion arrangement under the IMF's resilience and sustainability facility.

The approvals led to an inflow of foreign investment in Egyptian pound treasury bills, bankers said.

Egypt had been using foreign assets, which include assets held by both the central bank and commercial banks, to help prop up its currency since as long ago as September 2021. Net foreign assets turned negative in February 2022 and only returned to positive territory in May last year.

Foreign assets increased in April at both the central bank and commercial banks, while foreign liabilities fell at both as well.