Estimating mobilized private finance for adaptation: exploring data and methods

The report addresses the difficulty in tracking private finance for climate adaptation, noting that it currently represents less than 10% of total mobilized private climate finance. It proposes four methodological approaches—ranging from direct co-finance to expanded indirect mobilization—and tests them using two case studies: the NU-TEC project in Northern Uganda and the African Risk Capacity (ARC) insurance mechanism. The findings highlight a trade-off between the accuracy and incentive potential of a method and its practicality and standardization potential. The authors conclude that relying solely on direct co-finance underestimates the impact of 'enabling' interventions like technical assistance and capacity building.

• Private finance mobilized for adaptation is significantly lower than for mitigation, accounting for less than 10% of the total mobilized private climate finance, while over 90% is mobilized for mitigation.
• Publicly available data on private adaptation finance is extremely limited; for instance, in 2013, only about 7% of public finance adaptation activities recorded in the OECD DAC system indicated possible private finance involvement.
• Private actors rarely use the term 'adaptation' in their financial reporting, instead integrating climate resilience into broader risk management processes, which hinders the ability of commercial databases to identify adaptation-specific investments.
• The report defines three types of mobilization: direct (co-financed at the same project/fund), intermediated-direct (public finance provided one step upstream via a fund or credit line), and indirect (public finance supporting enabling outputs like capacity building or policy development).
• The study proposes four methodological approaches: Approach 1 (Direct), Approach 2 (Direct and intermediated-direct), Approach 3 (Direct, intermediated-direct, and indirect one step upstream), and Approach 4 (Direct, intermediated-direct, and indirect expanded two steps upstream).
• There is an inverse relationship between a methodology's accuracy and incentives versus its practicality and potential for standardization.
• In the Northern Uganda (NU-TEC) case study, Approach 1 identified no mobilized finance, while Approach 2 estimated USD 36 million, and Approaches 3 and 4 estimated between USD 75 million and USD 115 million.
• In the African Risk Capacity (ARC) case study, only Approach 4 was able to capture mobilized private finance, estimating that USD 3.5 million in annualized public finance mobilized between USD 5.7 million and USD 11.2 million from the private reinsurance market in the first policy year.
• Excluding indirect mobilization may disincentivize public funding for upstream activities such as project preparation, technology development, and market support, which are essential for creating conditions that attract private finance.

APA

Brown, J., Stadelmann, M., Wang, D., Boni, L., Jachnik, R., & Kato, T. (2015). Estimating mobilized private finance for adaptation: exploring data and methods. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Estimating-mobilized-private-finance-for-adaptation-Exploring-data-and-methods.pdf

Chicago

Brown, Jessica, Martin Stadelmann, David Wang, Leonardo Boni, Raphaël Jachnik, and Takayoshi Kato. Estimating mobilized private finance for adaptation: exploring data and methods. Climate Policy Initiative, 2015. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Estimating-mobilized-private-finance-for-adaptation-Exploring-data-and-methods.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Brown |first1=Jessica |last2=Stadelmann |first2=Martin |last3=Wang |first3=David |last4=Boni |first4=Leonardo |last5=Jachnik |first5=Raphaël |last6=Kato |first6=Takayoshi |title=Estimating mobilized private finance for adaptation: exploring data and methods |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=November 2015 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Estimating-mobilized-private-finance-for-adaptation-Exploring-data-and-methods.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{brown2015estimating, author = {Brown, Jessica and Stadelmann, Martin and Wang, David and Boni, Leonardo and Jachnik, Raphaël and Kato, Takayoshi}, title = {{Estimating mobilized private finance for adaptation: exploring data and methods}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2015}, month = nov, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Estimating-mobilized-private-finance-for-adaptation-Exploring-data-and-methods.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }