Practical Methods For Assessing Private Climate Finance Flows

In spite of the climate finance commitment by the developed countries to mobilise jointly 100 billion USD per year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries from a wide variety of sources, there is no clear agreement on the types of funds that might count as mobilised by developed countries and what private finance flows could be considered as mobilised for climate action in developing countries. This study identifies ten considerations that are key to estimating mobilised private climate finance. An example methodology is proposed for tracking mobilised private investment and the methodology is tested on three Nordic case studies. Through the further refinement of methodologies, it should be possible to develop common systems for M&E of finance enabling a clearer understanding of the finance landscape and the effectiveness of interventions for mobilising private investment.

In spite of the climate finance commitment by the developed countries to mobilise jointly 100 billion USD per year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries from a wide variety of sources, there is no clear agreement on the types of funds that might count as mobilised by developed countries and what private finance flows could be considered as mobilised for climate action in developing countries. This study identifies ten considerations that are key to estimating mobilised private climate finance. An example methodology is proposed for tracking mobilised private investment and the methodology is tested on three Nordic case studies. Through the further refinement of methodologies, it should be possible to develop common systems for M & E of finance enabling a clearer understanding of the finance landscape and the effectiveness of interventions for mobilising private investment

How is the struggle against climate change financed? Climate Finance: Theory and Practice gives an overview of the key debates that have emerged in the field of climate finance, including those concerned with efficiency, equity, justice, and contribution to the public good between developed and developing countries. With the collaboration of internationally renowned experts in the field of climate finance, the authors of this book highlight the importance of climate finance, showing the theoretical aspects that influence it, and some practices that are currently being implemented or have been proposed to finance mitigation and adaptation policies in the developed and developing world.

Increasing concerns over the effects of climate change have heightened the importance of accelerating investments in green growth. The International Energy Agency, for example, estimates that to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent by 2050, global investments in the energy sector alone will need to total US$750 billion a year by 2030 and over US$1.6 trillion a year from 2030-2050. Despite global efforts to mobilize required capital flows, the investments still fall far short. Bloomberg New Energy Finance argues that by 2020 investments will be US$150 billion short from the levels required simply to stabilize CO2 emissions. For the East Asia and Pacific region alone, the World Bank study Winds of Change suggests that additional investments of US$80 billion a year over the next two decades are required.Multiple factors affect green investments, often rendering them financially not attractive. Private investment flows, therefore, depend on public sectors interventions and support. As in many countries public sector resources are scarce and spread across many competing commitments, they need to be used judiciously and strategically to leverage sufficient private flows. Many governments, however, still lack a clear comprehensive framework for assessing green investment climate and formulating an efficient mix of measures to accelerate green investments and are unfamiliar with international funding sources that can be tapped. To address this challenge, the World Bank, with support from AusAID, conducts the work on improving the financing opportunities for green infrastructure investments among its client countries. This activity attempts to identify practical ways to value and monetize environmental externalities of investments and improve the promotion and bankability of green projects. This research report, as a key step in this activity, provides a structured compendium of ongoing leading initiatives and activities designed to accelerate private investment flows in green growth. It summarizes current investment challenges of green projects as well as proposed solutions, financing schemes and instruments, and initiatives that have set the stage for promoting green growth. The results of this work are intended to benefit the international community and policymakers who are seeking to deepen their knowledge of green investment environment. In addition, it is hoped that this work will be useful to practitioners, including fund managers and investors, seeking to have a better understanding of current trends, global initiatives, and available funding sources and mechanisms for financing green projects.

Global investment to achieve the Paris Agreement’s temperature and adaptation goals requires immediate actions—first and foremost—on climate policies. Policies should be accompanied by commensurate financing flows to close the large financing gap globally, and in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) in particular. This note discusses potential ways to mobilize domestic and foreign private sector capital in climate finance, as a complement to climate-related policies, by mitigating relevant risks and constraints through public-private partnerships involving multilateral, regional, and national development banks. It also overviews the role the IMF can play in the process.

Significant investments are needed to support the global transition to a low-carbon, climate resilient future. Current finance flows fall short of global financing needs, and massive scaling up is needed to unlock additional financial resources and foster a sustainable investment pathway. Overcoming barriers to private sector investments is critical, and international climate finance can play a catalytic role in this regard. National development banks (NDBs) have a unique role in this context, both complementing and catalyzing private sector players. This publication discusses the unique role that NDBs could play in scaling up private financing for climate change mitigation projects through the intermediation of international and national public climate finance in their respective local credit markets and the conditions that would be needed for them to be most effective. It draws from experiences in international climate finance and best practices, processes, and products of NDBs within the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Climate change negotiations have failed the world. Despite more than thirty years of high-level, global talks on climate change, we are still seeing carbon emissions rise dramatically. This edited volume, comprising leading and emerging scholars and climate activists from around the world, takes a critical look at what has gone wrong and what is to be done to create more decisive action. Composed of twenty-eight essays—a combination of new and republished texts—the anthology is organised around seven main themes: paradigms; what counts?; extraction; dispatches from a climate change frontline country; governance; finance; and action(s). Through this multifaceted approach, the contributors ask pressing questions about how we conceptualise and respond to the climate crisis, providing both ‘big picture’ perspectives and more focussed case studies. This unique and extensive collection will be of great value to environmental and social scientists alike, as well as to the general reader interested in understanding current views on the climate crisis.

Preventing risks of severe damage from climate change not only requires deep cuts in developed country greenhouse gas emissions, but enormous amounts of public and private investment to limit emissions while promoting green growth in developing countries. While attention has focused on emissions limitations commitments and architectures, the crucial issue of what must be done to mobilize and govern the necessary financial resources has received too little consideration. In Climate Finance, a leading group of policy experts and scholars shows how effective mitigation of climate change will depend on a complex mix of public funds, private investment through carbon markets, and structured incentives that leave room for developing country innovations. This requires sophisticated national and global regulation of cap-and-trade and offset markets, forest and energy policy, international development funding, international trade law, and coordinated tax policy. Thirty-six targeted policy essays present a succinct overview of the emerging field of climate finance, defining the issues, setting the stakes, and making new and comprehensive proposals for financial, regulatory, and governance mechanisms that will enrich political and policy debate for many years to come. The complex challenges of climate finance will continue to demand fresh insights and creative approaches. The ideas in this volume mark out starting points for essential institutional and policy innovations.