At COP29, one of our EU Horizon projects, MAIA Resilience EU Project, organized the UNFCCC Side Event titled “Building the Business Case for Climate Finance at the Subnational Level,” which focused on the critical need for increased investment at the subnational level to drive climate mitigation and adaptation. This discussion is particularly important in the context of ongoing negotiations on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for climate finance.
Prof. Phoebe Koundouri, as the Director of the Sustainable Development Unit at ATHENA RC and Principal Investigator of the MAIA Project at Athena Research Center, contributed as an expert panelist. She drew on her extensive research and regional experience to provide insights into the current state of climate finance. In her speech, titled “The Role of the Global Climate Hub in Streamlining Global Scientific Knowledge to Local Financial Needs,” she highlighted the SDSN Global Climate Hub (GCH), which integrates science-based modeling to develop holistic pathways for mitigation and adaptation at both the national and local levels. By using participatory processes informed by the Systems Innovation Approach (SIA), the GCH helps tailor policymaking and provides granular data to inform scientific modeling. The Hub plays a key role in addressing local mitigation and adaptation needs through science-driven projections, accelerating innovation, and developing customized financial instruments.
The event emphasized the urgent need for increased investment in subnational climate action, as well as the critical role of subnational actors in bridging the funding gap. It also highlighted innovative solutions to attract private sector investments, which are essential for driving sustainable climate action at the local level.
The event was organized by the MAIA Project partners—Regions4, Climate-KIC, and the Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB)—with support from additional partners, including the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), BC3 – Basque Centre for Climate Change, Athena Research Center (ARC), CDP, SEI — Stockholm Environment Institute, ICLEI, and the Under2 Coalition.
