4 September 2010: The Geneva Dialogue on Climate Finance took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 2-3 September 2010, to address current themes related to finance in the ongoing UN climate negotiations.

The group of ministers and government representatives from 46 countries and the EU, the Chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) and the UNFCCC Executive Secretary met in an informal setting at the invitation of the Governments of Switzerland and Mexico. The issues discussed included finance architecture, the new climate fund, the private sector’s role and sources of long-term finance.

Addressing the meeting, Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, warned that the world cannot afford escalating disasters of the kind recently witnessed in Pakistan and Russia. She underscored the need for governments to take swift action to lead the world towards a low-carbon future. She called for the ministers’ guidance on short-term and long-term funding, and the involvement of the private sector.

During the meeting, a new website called Fast Start Finance was launched. The Dutch initiative aims at enhancing transparency of fast-start financing by providing an overview of contributors and recipients of fast start finance in time for the upcoming 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 16), in Cancun, Mexico. The development of the website was initiated by the Government of the Netherlands, with the support of Costa Rica, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Norway, the UK and Viet Nam. [Figueres’ Statement] [IISD RS Coverage] [Fast Start Finance Website]