Private finance for adaptation: do private realities meet public ambitions?

This research paper analyzes 101 case studies from the UNFCCC Nairobi Work Programme's Private Sector Initiative to evaluate the alignment between private sector adaptation finance and the criteria established in UN climate negotiations.

• An analysis of 101 case studies under the UNFCCC Nairobi Work Programme's Private Sector Initiative (PSI) indicates that private adaptation interventions complement public activities, but they fail to meet 10 'adaptation finance criteria' derived from UN climate negotiation outcomes. This suggests a dissonance between the diplomatic conceptualization of adaptation financing and private-sector reality.
• Specific gaps in meeting adaptation finance criteria include a lack of clarity regarding the 'predictability' of investments and undisclosed plans and costs for 'up-scaling', although investments are considered 'new and additional' to official development assistance (ODA).
• The authors conclude that developed countries have a limited role in mobilizing private financial resources under the PSI. They suggest that monitoring and reporting only those private investments that principally finance adaptation is a practical path forward, though this would significantly decrease the volume of private investment contributing toward the 100 billion USD annual climate finance target for developing countries from 2020 onwards.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2015). Private finance for adaptation: do private realities meet public ambitions? https://www.sei.org/publications/private-finance-for-adaptation-do-private-realities-meet-public-ambitions/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Private finance for adaptation: do private realities meet public ambitions? 2015. https://www.sei.org/publications/private-finance-for-adaptation-do-private-realities-meet-public-ambitions/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Private finance for adaptation: do private realities meet public ambitions? |date=9 November 2015 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/private-finance-for-adaptation-do-private-realities-meet-public-ambitions/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2015private, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Private finance for adaptation: do private realities meet public ambitions?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2015}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/private-finance-for-adaptation-do-private-realities-meet-public-ambitions/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }