G20 ministers call for urgent action to bridge climate financing gap

17/10/2025 7:12

The Group of 20 (G20) Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group Ministerial Meeting opened Thursday in Cape Town, South Africa, marking a decade since the adoption of the Paris Agreement.



Opening the two-day meeting, South Africa's Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dion George said the world is facing a "triple planetary crisis" of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.



"The urgency for decisive and united action has never been greater. It demands that we strengthen multilateral cooperation, scale up innovation, and move from commitment to implementation," he said.



He noted that the global financing gap for sustainable development had widened from 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars to 4 trillion dollars, emphasizing that public resources alone could not bridge this shortfall.



"It requires private capital, blended-finance instruments, and partnerships that de-risk sustainable investment and accelerate innovation across the developing world," the minister noted.