On 13 October GLOBE EU members Linda MacAvan and Sirpa Pietikainen hosted a meeting of experts from the IIGCC platform (Institutional Investors group on Climate Change, which includes some of the largest pension funds and asset managers in Europe) at the European Parliament on financing the global efforts to address the challenge of climate change mitigation. The meeting was attended by 7 MEPs and 16 MEP assistants, several representatives of national delegations in the European Council, various members of the IIGCC, a UNEPFI representative and a representative from the European Commission Directorate General on Transport and Energy.

The meeting focussed on how mechanisms, strategies and perspectives in national, European and global climate change policies can advance low-carbon investments. With this in mind, the focus of the meeting was the 2009 Investor Statement on the Urgent Need for a Global Agreement on Climate Change and the IIGCC paper on non-carbon market financing mechanisms.

Please click here for the ‘2009 Investor Statement on the Urgent Need for a Global Agreement on Climate Change’, a paper which was signed by over 180 investors from around the world, including 9 EU countries  and representing  $13 trillion.

The meeting helped MEPs understand investors’ views in terms of the financing discussion on climate change, by presenting to them the expectations of investors and their needs in regard to the EU's regulatory framework, the European Parliament and European climate negotiators.

Investors indicated that they were looking forward to medium and long-term clarity with respect to climate reduction goals backed up by ambitious action plans. This would support investor confidence and therefore mitigation / adaptation financing.  Investors also suggested that investment in developing countries could be scaled up if the risk-return characteristics on low carbon investments were improved. MEPs meanwhile recommended that investors lobby national governments to a greater extent.