Bottlenecks, blind spots, and blended finance

The Green Economy Coalition introduces the Triple B Framework to address capital misallocation and sluggish growth in the green transition. The framework identifies 'bottlenecks' (structural, processual, and cognitive barriers) and 'blind spots' (behavioral biases resulting from homogeneity in the finance industry) that hinder investment. It redefines 'blended finance' to include non-financial capital—such as social, political, and cultural capital—arguing that these are often more critical than financial capital in emerging markets. The report suggests that supporting 'ecosystem builders' and sequencing non-financial capital before financial injections can de-risk investments and better serve developing countries.

• The Triple B Framework identifies 'bottlenecks' as barriers to capital mobilization categorized as structural, processual, and cognitive, while 'blind spots' are behavioral biases, such as 'group-think' caused by homogeneity, that lead to capital misallocation and high opportunity costs.
• The framework redefines blended finance as a strategy combining financial capital with non-financial forms, including knowledge, political, social, cultural, network, and relationship capital. This approach is presented as more suitable for emerging markets than conventional models from the IFC, OECD, WEF, and Convergence, which focus primarily on financial capital types found in advanced markets.
• In emerging ecosystems, the report argues that non-financial capital and 'ecosystem builders' should be prioritized over individual enterprises, as institutional infrastructure and non-financial capital are often required before financial injections can be effective.
• The document cites regional examples of innovative finance, such as the MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Fund's use of dual listing on the Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaican stock exchanges to mobilize private sector capital, and Igugu Global Limited's use of an environmental risk engine to reprice assets based on climate risk in Africa.

APA

Marcelle, G. (2021). Bottlenecks, blind spots, and blended finance. Green Economy Coalition. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/bottlenecks-blind-spots-and-blended-finance

Chicago

Marcelle, Gillian. Bottlenecks, blind spots, and blended finance. Green Economy Coalition, 2021. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/bottlenecks-blind-spots-and-blended-finance.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Marcelle |first1=Gillian |title=Bottlenecks, blind spots, and blended finance |publisher=Green Economy Coalition |date=22 March 2021 |url=https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/bottlenecks-blind-spots-and-blended-finance |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{marcelle2021bottlenecks, author = {Marcelle, Gillian}, title = {{Bottlenecks, blind spots, and blended finance}}, institution = {Green Economy Coalition}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/bottlenecks-blind-spots-and-blended-finance}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }