Oil Change International response to COP30 Presidency claims we don’t need public money for the energy transition
For immediate release
“Pushing for failed private finance schemes in the final hours of the negotiations risks derailing the path to a breakthrough deal on a funded, fair, fast just transition away from fossil fuels that we desperately need. Private investors seek profit, not justice.”
Bronwen Tucker, Public Finance lead at Oil Change International, said:
“It’s distressing to hear the COP30 Presidency say we don’t need more public funding for the energy transition. This is simply false.
“Global South countries cannot leverage enough private investment to cover the energy transition with the pennies of climate finance coming in from rich polluting governments. This is not just unfair, it is a proven failure. The private finance-first approach has already been pushed for over a decade and the results are in. Energy transitions are fueled by public funding and public planning, not private finance schemes.
“André Corrêa do Lago should know better. Pushing for failed private finance schemes in the final hours of the negotiations risks derailing the path to a breakthrough deal on a funded, fair, fast just transition away from fossil fuels that we desperately need. Private investors seek profit, not justice. The fossil fuel phase out roadmap we are fighting for at COP30 needs to centre how countries will address these systemic economic barriers together, not prop up debt traps and dead ends that prolong the fossil fuel era.”
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Notes:
- Rich countries can raise $6.6 trillion annually in public funding to pay for climate action at home and abroad.
- Proposals that rely on attracting private finance to the energy transition in the Global South are not delivering. Recent Oil Change International research shows that these initiatives have raised only 40 cents of private investment for the energy transition per public dollar invested, compared to the 4-7 dollars promised.
- This shortfall has been newly recognized in prominent finance reports ahead of COP30, featuring in the IEA World Energy Outlook 2025, the Independent High Level Expert Group (IHLEG) on Climate Finance, and the Baku to Belém Roadmap. However, this recognition has only come with small tweaks to their policy recommendations rather than the much needed overhaul.