The international community of sovereign wealth funds supports the Paris Agreement and is committed to accelerating the energy transition in emerging economies

Forum held in Paris

The president and CEO of COFIDES, José Luis Curbelo, has highlighted the importance of “COFIDES continuing to actively participate in an international reference forum in the field of sustainable financing, a strategic activity in all our business lines.

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Five months before the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) of the United Nations in Dubai (WATER), Emmanuel Macron, president of the French Republic, John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, and Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, have met with 100 CEOs and leaders of the Red One Planet Sovereign Wealth Funds (OPSWF). The main objective of this meeting was to promote the contribution of the financial community to the achievement of the goals of the Paris Agreement, as the consequences of climate change are increasingly visible, especially in developing and emerging economies. 

 

President Emmanuel Macron has called the 6th Annual OPSWF Network CEO Summit to coincide with the Summit for a new global financial pact (NPF) being held in Paris on June 22 and 23. The NPF Summit brings together heads of state and leaders of financial institutions, driven by the common desire to shape a new global financial architecture that fully serves people and the planet. 

 

Promoted by the president Emmanuel Macron, the OPSWF Network was launched at the One Planet Summit in Paris in December 2017 to accelerate the integration of climate change analysis into the management of large, diversified, long-term asset pools. The 47 members of the OPSWF Network, which represent more than $37 trillion in assets under management and ownership, recognize that the sovereign funds' objectives of long-term growth, protection of intergenerational wealth and achieving a sustainable future coincide with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, namely protecting the planet and advancing economic and social prospects of the next generations. The Network encompasses sovereign wealth funds and the asset managers and venture capital funds with which they partner.

 

In his speech at the VI Summit of the OPSWF Network, the president Emmanuel Macron He stated that “to solve poverty, climate change, and biodiversity loss together, it is absolutely impossible to act solely with public resources and official development assistance. We must create a collective dynamic, involving the private sector, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers, and all the private financing we can channel toward these goals much more. That is why the OPSWF and everything we have been building together within the framework of the One Planet Summit are so important.”

 

Also at the summit, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John KerryHe added that “the leaders brought together by the OPSWF represent pools of capital that can truly make or break the global energy transition. As stewards of intergenerational wealth, OPSWF members recognize the urgency of tackling the climate crisis; now is the time to move from words to large-scale action and seize the opportunities that exist to create a cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous future.”

 

COFIDES participates in this forum held in Paris, with the leadership of French President Emmanuel Macron and the United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry

 

During the Summit, important progress has been made in three critical priorities. 

 

1. Harmonization of climate data for private markets

Members of the OPSWF Network have reiterated the importance of greater transparency and disclosure of climate data to enable investors to better integrate climate change considerations into the investment decision-making process in a way appropriate to their business models. . Access to data on the carbon volumes of a company's operations remains a central barrier to gauging such risks and making investment decisions. Climate data is fragmented across a range of disparate standards, methodologies and tools, resulting in loss of data accuracy and expanded reporting requirements. Last year, members of the OPSWF Network launched the “One Planet Climate Disclosure Guidance (CDG) for Private Markets”. During the Summit, The sovereign funds of the Network have insisted on their request that the managers of private funds in which they invest communicate the estimated scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions, as well as the estimated scope 3 emissions when dealing with carbon-intensive companies. at the end of fiscal year 2023. They have also urged all private markets to begin disclosing climate-related information to reduce systemic risks to the financial system and the planet.. 

 

Members of the OPSWF Network have highlighted the importance of streamlining the aggregation and communication of this climate data. The OPSWF Network has therefore welcomed the creation of the Climate Data Steering Committee under the leadership of French President Emmanuel Macron and the United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action, Michael R. Bloomberg. Members of the OPSWF Network recognize the efforts made globally to fill information gaps and, in particular, the creation of the Net-Zero Data Public Utility (NZDPU) platform.

 

The NZDPU platform will offer a centralized repository of key data related to the climate transition, initially intended for public companies. This initiative is key to promoting advances in interoperability by achieving comparability, uniformity and coherence between various reporting frameworks. The OPSWF Network agreed that its working group would collaborate with the NZDPU platform to support compliance with the One Planet CDG guideline in the market by collecting data on scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

 

1. Accelerating investments in clean hydrogen 

Members of the OPSWF Network believe that stepping up investments in clean hydrogen is one of the critical areas for achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. Investment in clean hydrogen can be significantly accelerated as long as the right instruments are applied. The OPSWF Network has agreed that its clean hydrogen working group would establish a forum with the Hydrogen Council, which brings together 150 leading companies in the hydrogen industry, to support the promotion and implementation of a global standard for the certification of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from clean hydrogen across the value chain. Members agreed that such a certification standard could accelerate the development of the global clean hydrogen market and reduce emissions worldwide. Similarly, the certification standard can facilitate the financing of clean hydrogen projects, including in developing and emerging economies, by reducing costs and streamlining the process in developing countries.

 

1. Acceleration of investments in renewable energy in developing and emerging economies

Reducing carbon emissions in developing and emerging economies, while growing demand for clean and affordable energy, requires a significant increase in private sector participation and capital flows. Members of the OPSWF Network reinforced their belief that investing in renewable energy in developing and emerging economies constitutes a great investment opportunity from the triple perspective of impact, risk and return. 

 

Over the last decade, sovereign wealth funds as a whole have become a very relevant source of capital for renewable energy infrastructure in emerging markets. In preparing for today's Summit, members of the OPSWF Network have drawn on years of their own experience in the field of project financing, while calling on policymakers and key project developers to identify concrete measures that favor local solutions in renewable energy and sustainable markets. Members have agreed that building convergent national and regional clean energy ecosystems, with secure access to the international financial system, is critical to putting this approach into practice.

 

The OPSWF Network has agreed that its working group on renewable energy in developing and emerging economies will organize a Renewable Investment Acceleration Program in West and Central Africa to help catalyze this ecosystem, engaging in dialogue with multilateral development banks. Furthermore, members of the OPSWF Network working group have also agreed to support the meeting of leading renewable energy ecosystem operators in West Africa. 

The president and CEO of COFIDES, Jose Luis Curbelo, has highlighted the importance of “COFIDES continuing to actively participate in an international reference forum in the field of sustainable financing, a strategic activity in all our business lines. For COFIDES, it is also an opportunity to attract investment to Spain in those sectors linked to the competitiveness of our economy (sustainability, digitalization, infrastructure).” In this sense, he highlighted "the privileged relationship that we maintain with the institutional investors and sovereign funds of the One Planet network as future allies in the execution of the new co-investment instrument (FOCO), recently endowed with 2.000 million euros."