13 July 2010: The High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing, co-chaired by Prime Ministers Meles Zenawi (Ethiopia) and Jens Stoltenberg (Norway), held its second meeting on 12-13 July 2010, in New York, US.

The meeting was attended by the 21 principal members of the Advisory Group on Financing, as well as its two Co-Chairmen. In a press conference held at the conclusion of the meeting, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recalled that the Advisory Group is seeking to identify the sources of longer-term financing for developing countries’ efforts in mitigating and adapting to climate change promised by world leaders in Copenhagen in 2009. He also highlighted the agreed goal of scaling up support to reach 100 billion dollars per year by 2020, in addition to 30 billion dollars until 2012.

Ban said several Group members had met with representatives from member States, civil society and private sector, and added that he had also participated in the “very stimulating discussions.” Ban stated that he expected the Group will provide him its final recommendations in October 2010, and that its report will feed into the discussions at the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 16) in Cancun, Mexico. The UN Secretary-General underscored the importance of delivering on the climate finance pledges, noting it would strengthen trust between developing and developed countries, and build momentum in the global negotiations.

The UN Secretary-General outlined the challenges ahead for the Co-Chairmen, including: identify the sources of resources; package these resources in a politically viable, economically sound way; and bring this matter into the formal negotiation process. The UN Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing is scheduled to hold its third meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. [Ban’s Press Conference] [UN Press Release]