The Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action hosted a roundtable discussion on June 16 around the recently published Helsinki Principle 4 report, “Driving Climate Action through Economic and Fiscal Policy and Practice”, prepared under the leadership of U.S.A. and Denmark. The event highlighted the importance of robust action towards mainstreaming climate into economic and financial policies —and the potential consequences of inaction—by ministries of finance. The peer discussions centered around integrating climate change into fiscal sustainability analysis and mainstreaming climate change across public investment and asset management processes.

The event also showcased the importance of the Coalition to enhance the role of ministries of finance and why these ministries have a central role to play in unlocking the required investment and innovation to combat climate change. Country experiences were shared by Costa Rica, Denmark, Ethiopia, and Switzerland. The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Grantham Institute also provided key interventions throughout the event. The discussion highlighted the importance of developing a step-by-step approach to ensure steady progress and the need to raise awareness across ministries of finance about issues discussed in the report.

As immediate next steps, the work will continue under Helsinki Principle 4 on modeling and adaptation as well as Helsinki Principle 2 on guidance to support mainstreaming efforts.