SUMMARY NOTES

The document outlines the outcomes of a roundtable hosted by WRI and IIED, identifying a mutual desire for collaboration between donor agencies and the private sector to achieve sustainable development. It highlights significant barriers, including a lack of mutual understanding, donor risk-aversion, and a dearth of evidence on effective business models. The summary proposes five key opportunities for progress: creating learning platforms, developing best-practice guidance, establishing shared performance metrics, encouraging high-risk financial innovation, and leveraging the post-2015 development agenda to foster transformational partnerships.

• There is a mutual appetite for collaboration, with donor agencies seeking to leverage private sector resources for scale and efficiency, while the private sector seeks donor support in navigating local politics and requests clearer policy direction.
• Several systemic barriers hinder progress, specifically a lack of shared language and mutual understanding, a deficiency of analysis and common metrics to track the impact of collaborations, and a high level of risk-aversion among donors driven by austerity and strict accountability frameworks.
• To achieve the economic transformation required by climate change and resource scarcities, donors must shift from piecemeal projects to system-wide change, focusing on institutional strengthening and improving the investment climate in developing countries.
• The roundtable identified five specific opportunities for improvement: establishing in-country and international learning platforms, creating best-practice guidance for marrying commercial and sustainable success, developing shared performance metrics, implementing 'venture capitalist' approaches for high-risk collaborations, and utilizing the post-2015 development agenda to create a new global compact.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). SUMMARY NOTES. https://pdf.wri.org/summary_notes_roundtable_on_private_sector_contribution_to_sustainable_development.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. SUMMARY NOTES. n.d. https://pdf.wri.org/summary_notes_roundtable_on_private_sector_contribution_to_sustainable_development.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=SUMMARY NOTES |url=https://pdf.wri.org/summary_notes_roundtable_on_private_sector_contribution_to_sustainable_development.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendsummary, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{SUMMARY NOTES}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://pdf.wri.org/summary_notes_roundtable_on_private_sector_contribution_to_sustainable_development.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }