From Bonds to Blended Finance: How a Diverse Range of Financial Instruments Are Financing Climate Adaptation and Resilience

This study analyzes 162 cases from 2015–2025 to map 11 types of financial instruments used for climate adaptation. It finds that while blended finance is most common globally, high-income countries rely more on grants. The majority of financing (64%) targets risk reduction over risk management, and 75% of instruments are pooled through programs or funds rather than being country-specific.

• The study identifies 11 types of financial instruments used for climate adaptation: blended finance, bonds, concessional and market-based loans, debt swaps, disaster risk financing, equity, grants, guarantees, insurance/risk transfer, and payment for ecosystem services.
• Usage of financial instruments varies by income level; blended finance is the most frequent choice except in high-income countries, where there is a higher reliance on grants.
• Adaptation finance is primarily focused on risk reduction (64%) rather than risk management (32%), or both (4%), likely because ex-ante investments are seen as having higher rates of return compared to ex-post risk management, which are viewed as costs.
• Pooled instruments—such as programs, funds, facilities, or mechanisms—are more common than project- or country-specific instruments, accounting for 75 percent of cases. There is also a trend toward multi-country targeting, increasing from 16 percent in 2015 to 47 percent in 2024.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). From Bonds to Blended Finance: How a Diverse Range of Financial Instruments Are Financing Climate Adaptation and Resilience. https://www.wri.org/research/bonds-blended-finance-how-diverse-range-financial-instruments-are-financing-climate

Chicago

World Resources Institute. From Bonds to Blended Finance: How a Diverse Range of Financial Instruments Are Financing Climate Adaptation and Resilience. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/bonds-blended-finance-how-diverse-range-financial-instruments-are-financing-climate.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=From Bonds to Blended Finance: How a Diverse Range of Financial Instruments Are Financing Climate Adaptation and Resilience |url=https://www.wri.org/research/bonds-blended-finance-how-diverse-range-financial-instruments-are-financing-climate |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendfrom, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{From Bonds to Blended Finance: How a Diverse Range of Financial Instruments Are Financing Climate Adaptation and Resilience}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/bonds-blended-finance-how-diverse-range-financial-instruments-are-financing-climate}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }