New opportunities in climate finance at scale
Panellists at the July 2015 climate science forum in Paris, Our Common Future Under Climate Change, discussed progress and challenges indeveloping large-scale, effective flows for climate adaptation financing.
Thaven Naidoo of the Climate Technology Initiative Private Finance Advisory Network (CTI PFAN) spoke about the importance of interesting the impact investment community in climate change adaptation projects. CTI PFAN is an IDRC-supported “matchmaking” organization that connects adaptation projects with private sector financing.
Where investors are reluctant to fund projects in their early stages, such projects need to be able to access public funding to become sustainable, he said. In this way, they can also get into the public eye so they become options for investors.
In addition, a new platform is needed to help investors understand the science underpinning adaptation projects, as well as metrics for measuring their success, Naidoo said.
IDRC Senior Program Specialist, Edith Ofwona Adera, noted that key challenges include securing longer time frames for projects to achieve sustainability and getting the private sector involved early enough to see the benefits of scaling up.
