Supporting the Momentum of Paris: A Systems Approach to Accelerating Climate Finance

The report argues that international public climate finance must shift from a project-finance focus to a financial system development focus to effectively support Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). It identifies key barriers in developing countries, such as short-termism in banking and volatile capital flows, and suggests that public actors should scale up blended finance and de-risking instruments. The authors introduce a 'Climate Finance Systems Framework' to map the interactions between public providers, private investors, systemic enablers (like regulators), and service providers, aiming to identify leverage points for scaling finance flows.

• Developing country financial systems are characterized by short-termism and systemic risk, with banks holding 85-90% of financial assets and 49% of loans having a tenor of less than one year between 2010-2012.
• The primary barriers to the growth of climate finance include limited access to finance, the high cost and unsuitable nature of current financial products, and a lack of tools for implementing low-carbon and resilient projects.
• International public finance actors are often constrained by perceived trade-offs between poverty alleviation, development, and climate mandates, as well as an over-prudent approach to leveraging capital.
• There is a significant gap in concessional finance for middle-income countries; of 21 emerging markets with USD 23 trillion in investment potential, only 5 have access to the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) funds.
• Public climate finance should transition from focusing on individual project finance to supporting the development of green financial systems, including new regulatory actions for banks and increased ESG risk disclosure.
• The most effective instruments for leveraging private investment include blended or structured finance vehicles using concessional funds, de-risking tools like guarantees or insurance, and technical assistance to manage political risks.
• New development finance institutions like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and New Development Bank (NDB) offer opportunities to simplify procedures and provide flexible lending for large infrastructure projects.

APA

Oliver, P., Tonkonogy, B., Wang, D., & Wang, X. (2018). Supporting the Momentum of Paris: A Systems Approach to Accelerating Climate Finance. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/180306-Systems_Approach_to_Climate_Finance-Synthesis.pdf

Chicago

Oliver, Padraig, Bella Tonkonogy, David Wang, and Xueying Wang. Supporting the Momentum of Paris: A Systems Approach to Accelerating Climate Finance. Climate Policy Initiative, 2018. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/180306-Systems_Approach_to_Climate_Finance-Synthesis.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Oliver |first1=Padraig |last2=Tonkonogy |first2=Bella |last3=Wang |first3=David |last4=Wang |first4=Xueying |title=Supporting the Momentum of Paris: A Systems Approach to Accelerating Climate Finance |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=March 2018 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/180306-Systems_Approach_to_Climate_Finance-Synthesis.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{oliver2018supporting, author = {Oliver, Padraig and Tonkonogy, Bella and Wang, David and Wang, Xueying}, title = {{Supporting the Momentum of Paris: A Systems Approach to Accelerating Climate Finance}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2018}, month = mar, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/180306-Systems_Approach_to_Climate_Finance-Synthesis.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }