Climate Policy Initiative – Just Transition Initiative

Summary

Because cities are essential to climate mitigation and uniquely vulnerable to climate impacts, there are compelling and wide-ranging reasons for them to invest in low-emissions and “climate-smart” infrastructure. However, cities face various barriers to implementing such changes, including pressure to address infrastructure deficits and improve basic services. In this context, the authors explore how national development banks (NDBs) can support climate-smart investments and address cities’ larger systemic challenges in their efforts to contribute to the Paris Agreement goals and broader development objectives.

The authors emphasize the comparative advantages of NDBs in supporting climate-smart urban infrastructure. They recommend several opportunities to enhance NDB support for such investments. Some of these recommendations are directed at NDBs, while others require action by national and local governments, bilateral cooperation agencies, and multilateral development banks or international financial institutions.

Summary

During the United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019, the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) committed to mobilizing more than $1 trillion to further the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals between 2019 and 2025, including enabling and leveraging private finance for these ends. This annual report analyzes green finance commitments made in 2018 based on survey data submitted by 17 of the IDFC members to evaluate their progress toward these goals.

This report divides green finance into two major categories: climate finance and other environmental objectives. The former is composed of funding for green energy and climate change mitigation and/or adaptation. The latter is composed of funding for other environmental objectives, namely improving waste and water management, protecting biodiversity, and controlling industrial pollution. The report also analyzes green finance flows from their original sources and provides statistics by IDFC member, region of destination, financial instrument, sector of use, and sub-sectoral technologies.

The results indicate a decrease in overall green finance from record levels in 2017, specifically in mitigation and other non–climate-related environmental projects. Consistent with previous years, climate finance was dominated by funding for green energy and greenhouse gas mitigation. However, adaptation finance continues to grow in absolute and relative terms. The results of the survey indicate national and regional development banks may be at a critical juncture, requiring support from governments and regulators to increase their financial commitments to climate and development goals.