The Chilean presidency of the Leading Group and its permanent secretariat, represented by France, together held an informal meeting of the Leading Group on Innovative Financing for Development at the French embassy in Copenhagen at 8.30 am on 14 December 2009.

The meeting was chaired by Mr David Noé, Advisor at Chile’s Ministry of Finance, assisted by Mr Christian Masset, Director General of Global Affairs, Development and Partnerships at France’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

The majority of the member countries in the Leading Group attended the meeting, as well as international organisations such as the World Bank, World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Institut de l’Energie et de l’Environnement de la Francophonie (IEPF) and non-governmental organisations operating in the area of climate change mitigation, such as NatureRights Foundation.

The meeting was also attended by Burkina Faso’s Minister of Energy, Mr Cissé Kader, Niger’s Minister of the Environment, Mr Issouf Baco, and Cambodia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Borith Ouch, demonstrating the importance their countries place on the work of the Leading Group.

The theme of the meeting was focused on innovative financing and climate-related issues. The representatives of Germany, Mr Matthias Seiche, NatureRights Foundation, Mr Eric Maurel and the European Commission, Mr Walter Kennes spoke on various issues:

 Germany talked on carbon auctions: Germany allocates 10% of the revenue from carbon auctions to development;

 NatureRights Foundation presented its web interface for voluntary contributions for local projects. This novel initiative combines the web and financing specific projets enabling internet users to contribute to specific projects they can follow through the web.

 The European Commission reiterated its innovative financing proposals for climate change mitigation.

We also reviewed progress on international financial transactions for development by the Task Force set up for that purpose on 22 October 2009 in Paris.