Three Tools to Unlock Finance for Land-Use Mitigation and Adaptation

This executive summary describes three tools developed by Climate Focus and Climate Policy Initiative to help low and middle-income governments and their partners redirect land-use finance toward green mitigation and adaptation activities. The tools aim to address the lack of data on financial flows and the prevalence of business-as-usual investments in agriculture and forestry.

• Agriculture, forestry, and other land-use sectors contribute approximately 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and in more than 60 countries, mostly developing ones, these emissions account for over 50% of national totals.
• While total financial flows to agriculture and forestry in developing countries reach hundreds of billions of dollars, most are 'business-as-usual' (BAU) and do not support climate mitigation or adaptation. Annual finance specifically for land-use mitigation and adaptation is estimated to be between USD 1.3 billion and 51.8 billion.
• The 'Landscape of Land Use Finance' tool is designed to map public and private investments in both green and BAU activities. It provides quantitative estimates of flows and identifies key actors, intermediaries, and recipients to help governments find gaps and blockages in finance.
• The 'Financial Viability-Gap Analysis' tool assesses whether green land-use activities are financially viable compared to BAU activities. It identifies 'viability gaps' where costs exceed revenues, allowing governments to design tailored public incentives such as low-cost loans, tax breaks, or price floors to unlock investment.
• The 'Public Finance Mapping' tool allows governments to track public financial instruments to determine if they support BAU or green activities. This helps identify policy incoherence and encourages coordination across different sectors, geographies, and donors.
• Developed countries have committed to mobilizing USD 100 billion in annual climate finance by 2020 to assist developing countries, but existing mechanisms like REDD+ are not yet operating at the necessary scale for land-use investments.

APA

Falconer, A., Parker, C., Keenlyside, P., Dontenville, A., & Wilkinson, J. (2015). Three Tools to Unlock Finance for Land-Use Mitigation and Adaptation. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Three-Tools-to-Unlock-Finance-for-Land-Use-Executive-Summary.pdf

Chicago

Falconer, Angela, Charlie Parker, Paul Keenlyside, Adeline Dontenville, and Jane Wilkinson. Three Tools to Unlock Finance for Land-Use Mitigation and Adaptation. Climate Policy Initiative, 2015. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Three-Tools-to-Unlock-Finance-for-Land-Use-Executive-Summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Falconer |first1=Angela |last2=Parker |first2=Charlie |last3=Keenlyside |first3=Paul |last4=Dontenville |first4=Adeline |last5=Wilkinson |first5=Jane |title=Three Tools to Unlock Finance for Land-Use Mitigation and Adaptation |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=July 2015 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Three-Tools-to-Unlock-Finance-for-Land-Use-Executive-Summary.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{falconer2015three, author = {Falconer, Angela and Parker, Charlie and Keenlyside, Paul and Dontenville, Adeline and Wilkinson, Jane}, title = {{Three Tools to Unlock Finance for Land-Use Mitigation and Adaptation}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2015}, month = jul, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Three-Tools-to-Unlock-Finance-for-Land-Use-Executive-Summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }