To kick off his participation at the World Leaders Climate Action Summit at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, provided the following statement to launch GAIA, a new finance platform that will mobilize climate-focused investments in vulnerable regions. Supporting their resilience is crucial to our collective global effort in fighting climate change and securing a sustainable future for everyone. “Canada is announcing the launch of GAIA, an innovative US$1.48 billion (C$2.07 billion) blended finance platform that aims to increase the availability of climate finance for high impact climate action projects in up to 25 emerging markets and developing economies. Seventy percent of the platform will support adaptation projects and twenty-five percent of the funds will be invested in small island developing states and least developed countries.”