Why the U.S. must show up for global climate finance

最近几个月，在美国，包括城市，国家，公司，部落和非政府组织在内的成千上万的团体 - 已经推出了支持巴黎协定的举措。这些举措，如美国气候联盟那We Are Still InandAmerica’s Pledge那were a major part of the U.S. presence at last month’sU.N. climate negotiationsin Bonn and demonstrated that millions of Americans remain committed to climate action. Indeed, states and cities supporting the agreement代表U.S.人口的近一半（PDF）and, combined, make up more than half of U.S. GDP.

到目前为止，这些举措正确地专注于减少美国温室气体排放的努力。对国际气候金融的关注较少。然而，在这一领域开发实质性的工作流对这些成功的努力至关重要。为低收入和高度脆弱国家调动金融，以追求低碳发展，并为气候变化的影响做好准备是巴黎协定的核心众多的盛会。

多边气候基金等适应基金，这最不发达国家资助（LDCF）和绿色气候基金（GCF）由于其包容性的参与，优惠资源和重点是“协议”而持有的国际意义。

随着当前的美国总统政府从国际气候融资撤退，非美氏演员至少需要介入，以帮助填补真空。

With the current U.S. presidential administrationretreating from international climate finance，非露主演员至少需要介入，以帮助填补真空。作为美国气候运动在来年的力量上涨 - 特别是在One Planet Summit这个月和Global Climate Action Summit明年9月 - 该运动的可信度将部分地部分地铰接，即它是否为气候弱势发展中国家的财务倡议提供了融资。

最近讨论论文by the Center for American Progress and World Resources Institute proposed creating a finance vehicle, which it referred to as America’s Climate Fund, that could accept contributions from a variety of U.S. sources — including via a crowd-funding campaign — and channel these contributions to support low-carbon development and climate-resilience in developing countries.

讨论文件认为，此类基金的目标和设计可能性，包括其体制形式和支付期权。After consultation with stakeholders — including representatives from city and state governments, multilateral climate funds, nongovernmental groups, the private sector and the faith community — and with the help of legal experts who generously volunteered their time, the goals and design possibilities of America’s Climate Fund have come into sharper focus.

Goals of America’s Climate Fund

美国的气候基金不会取代联邦金融，也不会是唯一的effort for maintaining climate finance在当前的政府期间。例如，该基金不太可能填补20亿美元的差距，例如，在美国承诺并交付给GCF的资金之间。此外，不应将努力视为让联邦政府在履行其国际承诺方面的挑选。

但是，该基金将在国内和国际上提供一些重要的目的。例如，数十万美元的初始目标将是一个有意义的信号。

• Domestically, the fund would give Americans and U.S. organizations a way to contribute meaningfully to the global climate effort and assist the poorest and most vulnerable populations. It also would serve as an opportunity to educate Americans about the global climate effort and the role of finance in developing regions.
• Internationally, the fund would demonstrate that the United States remains a player in the global fight against climate change — and that the U.S. nonfederal climate movement realizes the important role of finance in the Paris Agreement and is supporting vital adaptation and mitigation projects for low-income and climate-vulnerable populations around the world. The fund also potentially could facilitate increased climate finance from other donor countries.

Key actors for America’s Climate Fund

基金的成功将需要几个演员的帮助，这些演员扮演不同的角色：

• 主办。如果一个非营利组织,而不是一个或城市state government, housed the fund and channeled contributions, it would protect the effort from the political cycle and make contributions tax-deductible in the United States. A nonprofit organization with experience accepting and disbursing contributions to support international climate efforts could be ideal for the role.
• 冠军。Coalitions such as the欠款谅解备忘录and the U.S. Climate Alliance, as well as state, city, philanthropic or private sector leaders, would be crucial for galvanizing contributions, helping guarantee the success of the effort and serving as the fund’s most high-profile champions.
• 贡献者。The fund could accept both large contributions from corporations or philanthropies and smaller contributions through a crowd-funding platform and campaign. It is worth noting both that more than 1,800 businesses and investors are signatories to We Are Still In and that companies with global supply chains are motivated to support climate resilience in the most vulnerable regions.

支付美国气候基金的贡献

There are two promising ways the fund could disburse contributions, which are not mutually exclusive:

• 直接贡献。该基金可以直接抵销现有多边基金的捐款。例如，它可能拒绝向适应基金提出的50％的资金和50％到GCF。GCF委员会需要批准指导方针，以便接受非政府来源的贡献。在没有这样的决定的情况下，捐款将支付其他多边基金。适应基金已经可以接受这样的贡献那provided the entity has signed a donation agreement. During the recent U.N. climate negotiations, countriesdesignated the Adaptation Fundas a channel that will serve the goals of the Paris Agreement, and the fund收到more than $90 million in new donations, including contributions from the Belgian subnational government of Wallonia.
• Co-financing.该基金还可以支持促进低碳和气候有弹性发展的个别项目。例如，它可以从现有多边气候基金的管道共同资助项目。这将允许非美容气候运动来支持满足其优先事项的项目，这可能包括最贫穷国家的食物和水安全或淘汰燃煤发电厂的淘汰。但是，这种方法将为人员配置，行政管理，治理和监测和评估的成本提高，而不是对现有资金的直接捐款。

In partnership with other organizations and coalitions, we will continue to work on the concept of an American climate fund in 2018. This effort would show the world that the United States is "still in," supporting the Paris Agreement not just by reducing its emissions, but also by assisting developing countries — including the poorest and most vulnerable countries — to meet the climate challenge.