The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that countries can marshal significant resources quickly and at scale in an emergency. The climate crisis requires no less. First and foremost, that means resolving longstanding issues of climate finance -- definitional disputes, access to financing, the obstacle of indebtedness, and underneath them all, trust that rich nations will deliver on their outstanding and new climate finance commitments. Only then can the international system ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable people, communities, and countries can make the necessary changes the whole world needs.
Through 20 conversations with Green decision makers and civil society actors, held prior to Germany's EU Council Presidency, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung has striven to contribute to a profound debate about the consequences of the pandemic and the future of the European project.
