CLIMATE FINANCE

This situation report by the Institute for Security Studies examines the mobilisation of private sector finance for climate change mitigation and adaptation, with a particular focus on developing countries and the role of the Green Climate Fund.

• The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the total investment required to meet climate goals will be $220 billion per year between 2010 and 2020, increasing to almost $1 trillion per year between 2020 and 2030.
• Private sector funding for climate finance is significantly larger than public funding, being almost three times greater in volume.
• Developed countries committed at the Cancún summit to a fast-track funding of $30 billion for 2010–2012 and a broader goal of jointly mobilising $100 billion per year by 2020 for developing countries.
• Private investment is hindered by three main categories of barriers: political/regulatory (such as political instability and currency risks), project-related (including technology risks and high initial costs), and financing risks (such as technology cost gaps and lack of risk-diversification instruments).
• Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change and faces a poor investment climate; 32 of the 50 lowest-ranking countries in the World Bank's 2012 Doing Business report are located in Africa.
• The Green Climate Fund (GCF), hosted in Songdo, Incheon, South Korea, is intended to be the main global fund for climate finance, utilizing a private sector facility to finance mitigation and adaptation activities.
• There is a significant disparity in funding between mitigation and adaptation, with mitigation receiving ten times more resources globally. This results in Africa receiving the lowest level of funding because mitigation finance typically targets fast-developing economies.
• Various financial instruments can leverage private investment, including loan guarantees and policy risk insurances to alleviate debt, and pledge funds, funds of funds, or subordinated equity to leverage equity.

APA

Ruppel, O. C., & Luedemann, C. (2013). CLIMATE FINANCE. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SitRep2013_6May.pdf

Chicago

Ruppel, Oliver C., and Cord Luedemann. CLIMATE FINANCE. Institute for Security Studies, 2013. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SitRep2013_6May.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ruppel |first1=Oliver C. |last2=Luedemann |first2=Cord |title=CLIMATE FINANCE |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=May 2013 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SitRep2013_6May.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ruppel2013climate, author = {Ruppel, Oliver C. and Luedemann, Cord}, title = {{CLIMATE FINANCE}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2013}, month = may, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SitRep2013_6May.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }