Multilateral Development Bank Efforts to Mainstream Climate Adaptation

The report examines how the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and World Bank are mainstreaming climate adaptation. While global finance flows for adaptation have increased and climate risk screening has become standard, the report finds that trends at the country level in Kenya, Nepal, and Peru are less clear. It highlights a lack of transparency in project-level finance allocations and argues for more funding of discrete adaptation projects and the use of programmatic finance and innovative instruments aligned with National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

• The African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and World Bank have increased global adaptation finance flows over the last ten years, though trends within Kenya, Nepal, and Peru are harder to identify.
• Climate risk screening and vulnerability assessments are now standard for most MDBs, which has likely increased the amount of project budgets tagged as having adaptation co-benefits, especially for large infrastructure.
• MDBs have started using national documents, specifically National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), to inform project identification and programming at the country level.
• Significant barriers to scaling adaptation finance remain, including a lack of transparency regarding project-level finance allocations and a need for finance ministries to better understand the economic benefits of adaptation.
• Between 2013 and 2020, the World Bank provided USD 1,197.8 million in adaptation-related financing to Nepal, which was significantly higher than the USD 453.6 million provided for projects with mitigation co-benefits.

APA

Donaldson,, D. M. (2023). Multilateral Development Bank Efforts to Mainstream Climate Adaptation. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/multilateral-development-bank-efforts-mainstream-climate-adaptation

Chicago

Donaldson,, Deborah Murphy,Julia. Multilateral Development Bank Efforts to Mainstream Climate Adaptation. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2023. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/multilateral-development-bank-efforts-mainstream-climate-adaptation.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Donaldson, |first1=Deborah Murphy,Julia |title=Multilateral Development Bank Efforts to Mainstream Climate Adaptation |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=21 March 2023 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/multilateral-development-bank-efforts-mainstream-climate-adaptation |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{donaldson2023multilateral, author = {Donaldson,, Deborah Murphy,Julia}, title = {{Multilateral Development Bank Efforts to Mainstream Climate Adaptation}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/multilateral-development-bank-efforts-mainstream-climate-adaptation}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }