In India, hundreds of millions of people have been exposed to a deadly heat wave for nearly two months. In South Africa, rains washed away entire houses, bridges and roads, killing hundreds and making many more homeless. Tens of millions are suffering drought in the Sahel and parts of East Africa, while the South-Eastern coast of Africa is hit by intense storms. An ice shelf the size of New York City has collapsed in East Antarctica, an area thought not to be hit by climate change.
These extreme climate situations emphasize how our world faces a large-scope and complex crises, creating new social challenges or significantly deepening those already present. From these events, it is clear that we need to tackle climate change in lockstep with social issues, and we need to do it fast.
Well-known strategies are not sufficient to solve all of the emerging challenges effectively, given the constraints on public budgets and the shortcomings of traditional financial systems. This creates a financing gap that reflects a misallocation of global capital, compared to commitments. It has created a deep impact crisis, which requires public and private sectors to galvanize their efforts to increase awareness of climate risk and scale up financing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To tackle this financing gap, the International Climate Finance Accelerator Luxembourg (ICFA) is organizing the Impact Finance Forum 2022. We seek to connect people, facilitate discussions, and move the impact finance field forward; all in line with ICFA’s role in furthering Climate Action (SDG 13) and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17).
We seek to delve into the challenges on how to tackle the pressing issues within five SDGs and collectively work on solutions to overcome these barriers during the thematic round-table discussions. Each round-table will be moderated by an experienced professional from the impact finance ecosystem. The five SDGs in focus this year are:
- Gender Equality (SDG 5)
- Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7)
- Reducing Inequalities (SDG 10)
- Climate Action (SDG 13)
- Life on Land (SDG 15)
The Impact Finance Forum will create an opportunity for pioneers and leaders in the impact finance space to share insights on key trends and challenges standing in the way of an inclusive recovery and to align on a long term view of the role that the community can and needs to play in shaping our world.
