Could Green Fund deliver breakthrough in Cancun?

The up-coming UN climate change summit in Mexico could yet deliver agreement on the formation of a Green Fund capable of providing developing countries with up to $100bn a year to help tackle global warming, according to ministers gathered in Geneva last week.

Speaking at the end of the two-day meeting to discuss climate financing options, senior officials expressed optimism the summit in Cancun in late-November could still result in a concrete funding deal that would in turn help to revive other aspects of the faltering negotiations.

"We think we should be able to establish the Green Fund in the conference in Cancun," Mexico's Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa told reporters following the Geneva meeting, which was attended by ministers from 46 nations. "We are hoping that we can make a very formal decision regarding the establishment of the fund and at the same time decide on how to make this fund be able to channel resources immediately, because there is this sense of urgency."

Experts agreed that a full binding treaty will not be finalised in Cancun, but a number of senior figures expressed optimism that some sort of agreement on climate funding mechanisms could be thrashed out in Mexico following progress at the Geneva meeting.

The head of the UN climate change secretariat, Christiana Figueres, described the latest round of talks as "a very, very helpful discussion", while EU climate change commissioner Connie Hedegaard said that the talks had delivered "some convergence" on the proposed Green Fund.

Swiss Environment Minister Moritz Leuenberger, who co-hosted the meeting with Mexico's Espinosa, told reporters that the two-day meeting had laid the groundwork for further progress in the run up to the Cancun Summit.

"We debated openly, often outside of our traditional negotiating positions and explored the issues together," he said. "In this way, we increased our understanding of the problems and the possible solutions."

The latest talks focused on how to build on the $30bn of fast-start funding promised to developing countries over the next three years and how to make good on the commitment made in Copenhagen to provide poorer nations with up to $100bn a year in funding from 2020 onwards to help them decarbonise their economies and adapt to inevitable climate change.

An advisory group appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and headed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his Norwegian counterpart Jens Stoltenberg is scheduled to deliver a report on how to raise the necessary funding by the end of October.

The group is widely believed to be investigating proposals for a carbon taxes and levies on aviation and shipping, all of which were discussed at the Geneva meeting last week.

Discussions surrounding climate financing are hugely significant to the global business community as the resulting multi-billion dollar investment programme will create huge opportunities for low-carbon industries in emerging markets, while proposals for new carbon taxes and levies could put huge pressure on existing business models.