Rich nations will be under pressure at this month’s UN COP29 conference to substantially increase the amount of money they give to poorer countries for climate action.
But there is deep disagreement over how much is needed, who should pay and what should be covered, ensuring that “climate finance” will top the agenda at COP29 in Baku.
– What is climate finance? –
It is the buzzword in this year’s negotiations, which run from November 11 to 22, but there is not one agreed definition of climate finance.
In general terms, it is money spent in a manner “consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development”, as per phrasing used in the Paris Agreement.
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That includes government or private money for clean energy like solar and wind, technology like electric vehicles, or adaptation measures like dykes to hold back rising seas.
But could a subsidy for a new water-efficient hotel, for example, be counted? It is not something the COP summits have addressed directly.
At the annual UN negotiations, climate finance has come to refer to the difficulties the developing world faces getting the money it needs to prepare for global warming.
– Who pays? –
Under a 1992 UN accord, a handful of rich countries most responsible for global warming were obligated to provide finance.
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In 2009, the United States, the European Union, Japan, Britain, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, New Zealand and Australia agreed to pay $100 billion per year by 2020.
They only achieved this for the first time in 2022. The delay eroded trust and fuelled accusations that rich countries were shirking their responsibility.
At COP29, nearly 200 nations are expected to agree on a new finance goal beyond 2025.
India has called for $1 trillion a year and some other proposals go higher, but countries on the hook want other major economies to chip in.
They argue times have changed and the big industrialised nations of the early 1990s represent just 30 percent of historic greenhouse gas emissions today.
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In particular, there is a push for China — the world’s largest polluter today — and the oil-rich Gulf countries to pay. They do not accept this proposal.
– What’s being negotiated? –
Experts commissioned by the UN estimate that developing countries, excluding China, will need $2.4 trillion per year by 2030.
But the line between climate finance, foreign aid and private capital is often blurred and campaigners are pushing for clearer terms that specify where money comes from, and in what form.
In an October letter to governments, dozens of activist, environment and scientific groups called on rich nations to pay developing countries $1 trillion a year in three clear categories.
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Some $300 billion would be government money for reducing planet-heating emissions, $300 billion for adaptation measures and $400 billion for disaster relief known as “loss and damage” funds.
The signatories said all the money should be grants, seeking to redress the provision of loans as climate finance that poorer countries say compounds their debt woes.
Developed countries do not want money for “loss and damage” included under any new climate finance pact reached at COP29.
– Where will they find the money? –
Today, most climate finance aid goes through development banks or funds co-managed with the countries concerned, such as the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility.
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Campaigners are very critical of the $100 billion pledge because two-thirds of the money was given as loans, not grants.
Even revised upwards, it is likely any new pledge from governments will fall well short of what is needed.
But this commitment is viewed as highly symbolic nonetheless, and crucial to unlocking other sources of money, namely private capital.
Financial diplomacy also plays out at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the G20, where this year’s host Brazil wants to craft a global tax on billionaires.
The idea of new global taxes, for example on aviation or maritime transport, is also supported by France, Kenya and Barbados, with the backing of UN chief Antonio Guterres.
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Redirecting fossil fuel subsidies towards clean energy or wiping the debt of poor countries in exchange for climate investments are also among the options.
COP29 host Azerbaijan, meanwhile, has asked fossil fuel producers to contribute to a new fund that would channel money to developing countries.
Jackson Walker represented Third Coast Bank, as administrative agent and lead arranger, in connection with a senior secured credit facility for AccessParks, a leading provider of broadband services to outdoor hospitality and manufactured housing communities across the United States.
The transaction involved a delayed draw term loan facility with total commitments of up to $25 million, including incremental capacity, and will support AccessParks’ continued growth, strategic acquisitions, and refinancing of existing indebtedness.
AccessParks is a portfolio company of M/C Partners, a private equity firm focused on digital infrastructure and technology‑enabled services. The company delivers broadband and managed Wi‑Fi solutions to national parks, RV parks, and manufactured housing communities nationwide
The Jackson Walker team was led by debt finance partner Sarah Christian and associates Brooke Yarborough and Chiara Natale. The Third Coast Bank team was led by Elizabeth Falco, Tyler Shelton, Shai Thakkar, and Donna Schwark.
Meet JW
Since 1887, Jackson Walker has represented some of the most influential companies and business leaders in the world. Today, we remain firmly rooted in Texas while serving clients around the globe. With more than 500 attorneys, we are the largest law firm in the state. Jackson Walker consistently ranks among leading firms in Chambers and Partners, Best Law Firms® by Best Lawyers, and the BTI Client Service A-Team. To explore Jackson Walker’s experience advising lenders, sponsors, and growth‑stage companies in commercial finance transactions supporting the development and expansion of fiber broadband and digital infrastructure networks, visit the Finance & Banking practice page.
The Eagle River/Chugiak Parks and Recreation offices on July 9, 2021 in Eagle River. (Loren Holmes / ADN)
Municipal inspectors looking into accounting practices at a popular recreation facility in Eagle River found “deficiencies in recordkeeping and numerous inconsistencies within their financial records” during recent years.
The Anchorage Police Department confirmed there is an investigation connected with the facility, but declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing nature of the case.
Anchorage’s Office of Internal Audit released its report on the Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center on Dec. 31, 2025.
The facility, often referred to as the Mac Center, is owned by the Municipality of Anchorage, but run by a nonprofit, the Fire Lake Arena Management Inc., under the terms of a contract. Originally built in 1983, the McDonald Center has an Olympic-size ice rink, indoor walking track and large turf field, as well as meeting rooms.
The municipality routinely audits various departments, offices and facilities as part of its oversight of public resources. A previous audit of the McDonald Center in 2017 reported instances of financial mismanagement and accounting errors. A 2023 audit of the same facility found that the contract between the municipality and the nonprofit tasked with running it had lapsed, and as such, investigators couldn’t determine whether or not its terms were being observed.
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Even before the latest audit began in 2025, Yoshiko Flanagan, the facility’s current general manager, said she alerted the city about “abuses” she spotted when she began working there as a part-time bookkeeper at the end of 2023.
“Honestly, when I first came in, it was a mess,” Flanagan said in an interview last week. “Lotta red flags.”
Upon raising the issue to Mike Braniff, then the head of the Department of Parks and Recreation, staff immediately took it seriously, Flanagan said.
When city inspectors looked into the facility’s financial records, they found a number of irregularities, shoddy practices and probable misconduct that have all made a comprehensive audit of recent fiscal years impossible, according to the report.
“When we started our review, we were provided the financial records in several file boxes,” wrote auditor Kevin Song in the final report. Files were mislabeled, missing or incomplete for a time period stretching from 2021 to 2025, he noted.
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There were other problematic findings. Auditors were told by current staff that the former head of the McDonald Center “had privately re-registered the accounting system under their personal account, preventing the current management access to records prior to 2024.”
“The Center’s management informed us of a pending investigation involving a former employee related to alleged misappropriation of resources. The allegations include irregularities in payroll, corporate card expenditures, misuse of funds from facility-hosted events, and reregistering the financial system under their own personal account to manipulate data. A police report was filed, and the investigation is ongoing,” Song wrote in the audit.
According to figures cited in the audit and submitted to police, “the total potential financial impact was estimated to be $18,822.64 when it was reported; however, the exact amount remains unconfirmed pending the outcome of the investigation.”
In response to questions about the investigation, APD spokesperson Gina Romero declined to name the former employee, given that charges have not been filed and the case is ongoing.
One section of the audit details bonuses being paid out to employees even as the McDonald Center was operating in the red.
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“In 2024, $8,600 in bonuses were paid to full-time employees despite reporting $90,025.41 over the salary/wage budget and ending the year at a loss of $67,687.87,” according to the audit. “In 2023, the total amount of bonuses was $10,100.”
Elsewhere, investigators found that expenses had been filed for things never approved by overseers on the Fire Lake Arena Management Inc. board in the center’s submitted budgets, including $5,893 one year for “vacation expenses for employees” and $7,000 in “moving expenses.”
“Our review found no justification provided for such expenses,” auditors wrote.
According to Flanagan, under her tenure as general manager at the facility, those sloppy accounting practices have since been replaced with standard industry measures bringing the facility into compliance with its contract terms.
“When I did come in, yes, it was very mom-and-pop, (revenue was) handled very irregularly,” she said.
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She attributes some of the issues to the COVID-19 pandemic: The McDonald Center was navigating closures, loss of institutional knowledge among longtime staff and eventually an expansion in services quickly outgrew the old ways of doing things, creating opportunities for misconduct and mismanagement.
“There’s been a big turnaround,” Flanagan said, noting that after in 2024, under the previous general manager, the center ended its year with a deficit around $66,000. Last year, during which she was in charge, the McDonald Center was solidly above its revenue target.
A separate 2021 audit reported a “culture of excess” in procurement and spending practices at the Eagle River/Chugiak Parks and Recreation Division, a distinct entity under the municipality’s larger Parks and Rec Department that technically has oversight over the McDonald Center.
OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Blue Shield of California today announced the appointment of Kevin Jacobsen, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of The Clorox Company, to the nonprofit health plan’s Board of Directors. Jacobsen brings more than three decades of financial and operational leadership experience across global organizations.
During his seven years as CFO at Clorox, he oversaw financial reporting and controls, enterprise risk management, tax, treasury, internal audit, investor relations, global business services, and mergers and acquisitions.
Blue Shield of California appoints veteran finance leader
Kevin Jacobsen to its Board of Directors
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“Kevin is a deeply respected financial leader with firsthand experience guiding organizations through major operational and digital transformation,” said Pamela DeCoste, Board Chair for Blue Shield of California. “His ability to navigate complexity while keeping a long‑term view will be invaluable to Blue Shield of California as we continue to modernize healthcare delivery and further strengthen our goal to create a healthcare system that’s worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable.”
As a member of Clorox’s executive team, Jacobsen was a coarchitect of the company’s multiyear IGNITE transformation strategy, focused on strengthening operations, advancing digital capabilities, evolving the portfolio and significantly expanding innovation. As part of this role, Kevin oversaw the implementation of Clorox’s global ERP financial reporting and controls and financial planning modules, enhancing enterprise-wide processes and operational efficiency. He also led the creation of a Global Business Services organization designed to deliver productivity savings while improving business outcomes through advanced technology.
Jacobsen brings extensive board and governance experience. In addition to Blue Shield of California’s Board of Directors, he serves on the board of Avista Corporation, where he is a member of the Audit, Operations and Technology Committees. He is a Qualified Financial Expert and has served in leadership roles including Chair of the Board of the Clorox Captive Insurance Company from 2021 to 2025. He was also a prior member of the Economic Advisory Council of the San Francisco Federal Reserve from 2022 through 2024.
“Blue Shield’s mission and values resonate deeply with me, particularly its commitment to affordability, transparency and improving the healthcare system for all Californians,” said Jacobsen. “I’m honored to join the Blue Shield of California Board of Directors, and I look forward to contributing my experience to support the nonprofit health plan’s mission to provide access to quality health care that’s sustainably affordable for everyone.”
Jacobsen holds an MBA from the University of Rochester, completed the Wharton Executive Education Program and earned a finance degree from the University of California, Riverside.
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About Blue Shield of California Blue Shield of California strives to create a healthcare system worthy of its family and friends that is sustainably affordable. The health plan is a taxpaying, nonprofit, independent member of the Blue Shield Association with 6 million members, over 6,500 employees and more than $27 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 in San Francisco and now headquartered in Oakland, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare healthcare service plans in California. The company has contributed more than $60 million to the Blue Shield of California Foundation in the last three years to have an impact on California communities. For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com. Or follow us on LinkedIn or Facebook.
For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com. Or follow us on LinkedIn or Facebook.
