- Eight international organizations and development finance institutions spanning the globe announced plans to boost financial instruments for sustainable climate and nature-linked sovereign financing.
- DFC and IDB intend to lead a task force to oversee the new group’s progress.
DUBAI, UAE – Eight international organizations and development finance institutions announced at COP28 on Monday that they intend to launch a new global effort to cooperate on boosting financial instruments for sustainable climate and nature-linked sovereign financing.
The group of international organizations and development finance institutions announced a joint declaration at the annual U.N. climate summit as a part of the new focus on use of different financial solutions for mobilizing private sector capital through credit enhancement instruments such as debt swaps and green or sustainability-linked bonds. The Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the African Development Bank (ADB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
This group of international organizations and development finance institutions also announced the formation of a task force that will be led by the IDB and DFC and will help facilitate the group’s mission. The task force plans to monitor the group’s progress toward its stated goal of increasing the effectiveness, efficiency, affordability, accessibility, availability, and scalability of these financial instruments, that use credit enhancement features, at the facility, product, and process levels.
“The climate crisis cannot be addressed by any one organization operating in isolation. This joint declaration and task force solidifies our commitment to better cooperate on nature-linked financing,” said DFC CEO Scott Nathan. “We need to be working together, building off proven models, to deliver concrete solutions to this challenge.”
“The IDB has long been a pioneer in innovative finance. By strengthening our collaboration with multilateral development banks and other stakeholders, we are looking to scale up and enhance the impact of climate and nature finance," said IDB President Ilan Goldfajn. "We are at a critical juncture where innovative finance will be vital in helping countries access the needed resources," he added.
The eight institutions plan to collaborate to scale climate and nature-linked financing by improving the access to mechanisms that lower credit risks investors face on sovereign debt instruments. These include credit enhancement instruments, which are financial solutions such as full or partial credit guarantees, credit insurance, and political risk insurance (PRI).
The goal of sustainability-linked financing is to create incentives to increase scale and deepen impact of climate and nature financing by defining ambitious goals, creating robust implementation and monitoring strategies, and enhancing operational mechanisms. The use of these instruments can help mobilize much needed private sector resources. The collaboration seeks to increase the use of these types of financial solutions and consolidate them as a relevant and accessible funding source for developing country sovereigns and public sector entities.
The joint declaration builds on the extensive work of DFC and IDB in the debt-for-nature conservation space. In the past 18 months, DFC has provided nearly $2 billion in political risk insurance (PRI) to support debt-for-nature conservation transactions. DFC is a leading provider of PRI, an important tool for building investor confidence and mobilizing private capital – a core tenet of DFC’s mission – in markets where it’s needed most.
The IDB has also grown its share of debt-for-nature transactions in the last 18 months by approving US$585 million in partial credit guarantees that have mobilized more than US$700 million from other development partners and generated approximately US$500 million in savings for marine conservation.
Elevated debt and debt service burdens facing developing countries greatly hinder their ability to meet their global climate and nature commitments. In this context, the collaboration to improve sustainability-linked financing efficacy will help developing countries meet climate and nature goals.
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About DFC
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is the U.S. Government's development finance institution. DFC partners with the private sector to finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the developing world today. We invest across sectors including energy, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, and small business and financial services. DFC investments adhere to high standards and respect the environment, human rights, and worker rights.
About IDB
The Inter-American Development Bank is devoted to improving lives. Established in 1959, the IDB is a leading source of long-term financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research projects and provides policy advice, technical assistance and training to public- and private-sector clients throughout the region.