Implementing Alignment with the Paris Agreement: Recommendations for the Members of the International Development Finance Club

The report outlines a roadmap for 24 national and regional development banks to transition from incremental climate finance to full Paris alignment. It proposes a three-dimensional framework focusing on a comprehensive scope of action, a long-term time horizon, and an ambitious scale of contribution. Recommendations are divided into country-level support for governments, strategic-level institutional leadership, and operational-level investment criteria and project development.

• Paris alignment requires financial institutions to move beyond measuring incremental climate finance to ensuring all activities are consistent with long-term goals, specifically by scaling down non-consistent activities and prioritizing transformative changes.
• The report proposes a three-dimensional framework for alignment: a 'Comprehensive Scope of Action' across all business areas, a 'Long-Term Time Horizon' to avoid lock-in or mal-adaptation, and an 'Ambitious Scale of Contribution' that includes 'Do No Harm', supporting co-benefits, and fostering transformative outcomes.
• IDFC members can drive alignment at the country level by providing policy advice for low-GHG pathways, facilitating multi-stakeholder dialogue across ministries, and building capacity to mitigate physical, liability, and transition risks.
• Strategic alignment requires executive leadership to adopt institution-wide objectives with clear metrics, update risk management frameworks to utilize unused risk capacity for transformative investments, and adjust staff incentive structures.
• At the operational level, institutions should integrate alignment assessment processes into all investment decisions, including direct and intermediary lending, and prioritize early-stage project preparation to avoid late-stage modifications.
• To catalyze private capital, IDFC members should increase the use of risk mitigation instruments, such as guarantees, and explore aggregation platforms and loan syndication to reduce barriers for institutional investors.
• The report emphasizes that no IDFC member is currently fully aligned and that the transition path depends on the political environment: those with centralized leadership can start with mandate reviews, while those in challenging environments can start by demonstrating the compatibility of climate and development goals.
• IDFC members manage significant assets, totaling over USD 4 trillion, and their sponsor countries account for 69% of global emissions and 53% of global economic losses from extreme weather events (1998-2017).

APA

Clark, A., Choi, J., Tonkonogy, B., Micale, V., & Wetherbee, C. (2019). Implementing Alignment with the Paris Agreement: Recommendations for the Members of the International Development Finance Club. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Implementing-alignment-recommendations-for-the-International-Development-Finance-Club-_-Full-Report.pdf

Chicago

Clark, Alex, June Choi, Bella Tonkonogy, Valerio Micale, and Cooper Wetherbee. Implementing Alignment with the Paris Agreement: Recommendations for the Members of the International Development Finance Club. Climate Policy Initiative, 2019. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Implementing-alignment-recommendations-for-the-International-Development-Finance-Club-_-Full-Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Clark |first1=Alex |last2=Choi |first2=June |last3=Tonkonogy |first3=Bella |last4=Micale |first4=Valerio |last5=Wetherbee |first5=Cooper |title=Implementing Alignment with the Paris Agreement: Recommendations for the Members of the International Development Finance Club |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=September 2019 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Implementing-alignment-recommendations-for-the-International-Development-Finance-Club-_-Full-Report.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clark2019implementing, author = {Clark, Alex and Choi, June and Tonkonogy, Bella and Micale, Valerio and Wetherbee, Cooper}, title = {{Implementing Alignment with the Paris Agreement: Recommendations for the Members of the International Development Finance Club}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Implementing-alignment-recommendations-for-the-International-Development-Finance-Club-_-Full-Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }