Prime Minister Hon. James Marape has expressed Papua New Guinea’s strong support for the Green Climate Fund (GCF), calling for global financing arrangements that properly recognise the vital contribution of Pacific forests and oceans to addressing climate change.
The GCF has so far approved US$85.4 million in climate financing across four projects benefiting Papua New Guinea, along with US$4.3 million in Readiness and Preparatory Support.
This includes a landmark US$63.4 million REDD+ results-based payment recognising PNG’s verified success in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation by 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent between 2014 and 2016.
The funding will be reinvested in forest governance, sustainable land use, forest conservation and improved livelihoods for forest-dependent communities.
Prime Minister Marape discussed the GCF’s support for PNG during a bilateral meeting with its Executive Director, Ms Mafalda Duarte, on the margins of the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting in Koror, Palau.
He welcomed the GCF’s investment in PNG, saying it demonstrated that the country’s efforts to preserve its forests provided measurable benefits to the international community.
“Papua New Guinea has maintained one of the world’s largest remaining tropical rainforest systems,” Prime Minister Marape said.
“Our people have carried the responsibility of protecting these forests, and it is only fair that their contribution to the global fight against climate change is properly recognised and rewarded.”
Prime Minister Marape said Pacific countries should no longer be viewed solely as vulnerable Small Island Developing States but also as “big ocean states” possessing vast marine areas that contributed significantly to global climate mitigation.
“Yesterday, I told the Forum that we should change the narrative from small island developing states to big ocean states,” he said.
“Our Pacific countries have vast sovereign ocean spaces. While we face serious climate challenges, our forests and oceans also make an enormous contribution to climate mitigation.”
Prime Minister Marape said Papua New Guinea supported an ambitious replenishment of the Green Climate Fund to ensure it could continue financing adaptation and mitigation projects in the Pacific and other developing regions.
He offered to advocate for greater support for the Fund in discussions with major international partners, including Australia, France and China.
“The Green Climate Fund is an established global institution with the structure, experience and governance systems needed to deliver climate finance,” he said.
“We should strengthen what is already working and ensure that it has sufficient resources to support countries confronting the effects of climate change.”
Prime Minister Marape said the world needed a transparent and accountable system through which countries and industries with large carbon footprints could contribute towards protecting forests and oceans and financing climate adaptation.
“Those contributing significantly to global carbon emissions must help finance adaptation and mitigation,” he said.
“Countries such as Papua New Guinea are maintaining forests and ocean spaces that absorb carbon and help stabilise the planet. These environmental services must be properly measured, valued and supported.”
Prime Minister Marape said Papua New Guinea’s extensive forests and ocean resources served as major carbon sinks.
He said PNG was initially moving to protect 30 per cent of its ocean area, with an ambition to increase this to 50 per cent, while ensuring that conservation supported the livelihoods and economic aspirations of its people.
“We have forests and oceans that are helping to save the planet, but conservation must also support our people and our development,” he said.
“We must find a system in which the global economy continues to function while those benefiting from the use of the planet contribute towards protecting it.”
Prime Minister Marape encouraged the GCF to examine how international carbon-market mechanisms, including arrangements under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, could be used to channel transparent and accountable financing to countries protecting major carbon sinks.
He said this could offer a credible alternative to poorly regulated operators in the international carbon market.
“We have too many carbon operators moving around without sufficient accountability to governments or established international institutions,” Prime Minister Marape said.
“The Green Climate Fund has the global structure and governance arrangements to help bring greater credibility, accountability and fairness into this space.”
Ms Duarte thanked Prime Minister Marape for agreeing to champion an ambitious replenishment of the GCF.
She said the Fund had doubled its commitments to the Pacific over the past three years, increasing them from US$500 million during its first seven years to about US$1 billion. These commitments supported total investments of approximately US$2.4 billion across the region.
Ms Duarte said the GCF was also reforming its processes to reduce the time required to approve projects and accredit institutions, making climate finance faster and more accessible.
She said Papua New Guinea stood to benefit significantly from a proposed regional Pacific programme expected to be considered by the GCF Board in October.
The meeting also discussed the Pacific Resilience Facility, with both sides agreeing that it should complement the work of the GCF.
Ms Duarte said the GCF was already providing technical assistance to help establish the Pacific Resilience Facility’s institutional framework. It could explore further financial support once the facility was fully established and met the necessary accreditation requirements.
Prime Minister Marape welcomed this cooperation and said climate-financing institutions serving the Pacific must work together without unnecessary duplication.
“The Pacific Resilience Facility and the Green Climate Fund must complement each other,” he said.
“Climate-finance resources are limited and global demands are increasing. We must make sure every available dollar is used effectively to protect our people, our forests and our oceans.”
Prime Minister Marape thanked Ms Duarte and the GCF for their continuing support to Papua New Guinea and the wider Pacific. He said PNG would continue advocating internationally for a fairer climate-finance system that recognised the Pacific not only as a region vulnerable to climate change, but also as a major contributor to global climate solutions.