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The Lendable Decarbonization Fund (LDF) is an innovative financial instrument designed to provide sustainability-linked loans (SLLs) to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and middle market companies (MMEs) in emerging economies. By utilizing the proprietary Maestro technology for real-time monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV), the LDF aims to reduce the administrative costs that typically prevent smaller firms from accessing SLLs. The fund also includes a Carbon Project Preparation Facility (CPPF) to provide technical assistance and grants for developing carbon offset projects. LDF targets an initial assets under management (AUM) of USD 250 million by year three and USD 500 million by year five, focusing on sectors such as energy access, energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and transport across Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Latin America.

Social Infra Ventures (SIV) is developing a model for affordable housing in Morocco that integrates climate resilience and gender-responsive design. The instrument utilizes a combination of equity and mezzanine debt to fund a pilot project of 250 units, with the long-term goal of listing its rental portfolio as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) on the Moroccan stock exchange to create a self-funding mechanism for expansion. SIV targets secondary cities to reduce land costs and focuses on underserved populations, particularly women, by providing both rental and sale options and incorporating childcare and safety features into community design. Environmentally, the project adheres to IFC EDGE and Building Resilience Index standards to reduce carbon emissions and increase adaptive capacity.

The SAVi assessment of a proposed 27.4 km BRT system in Bandung, Indonesia, demonstrates that the project is highly profitable from macroeconomic and societal perspectives, despite being economically unviable under conventional financial analysis. While a traditional benefit-cost ratio (BCR) is low (0.27 to 0.28), the sustainable BCR (S-BCR), which includes non-tangible social and environmental benefits, ranges from 6.67 to 7.67. The largest benefits are derived from the value of time saved and increased retail revenues. The report concludes that the project's societal benefits significantly outweigh its investment costs, providing a strong case for sustainable mobility investment in the city.

The briefing highlights the potential of the DOE's Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) Program, a component of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), to provide low-interest loans for clean energy projects, workforce development, and grid upgrades. RMI argues that by leveraging EIR funding, IOUs can replace fossil assets earlier than planned, resulting in higher profits for shareholders and more stable power bills for customers. Despite these benefits, RMI's analysis of utility earnings calls indicates that IOUs are not yet discussing the EIR program with investors.

The research identifies a significant gap between solar radiation potential and installed capacity in lower-income countries, driven by high costs of capital linked to sovereign, political, and off-taker risks. To address this, the authors propose a Global Credit Guarantee Facility (GCGF) with a suggested capitalization of USD 6.6 billion to provide partial guarantees for cross-border debt. The paper models two approaches for the GCGF's impact: one reducing overall risk premiums by an average of 6% and another reducing them by 3% by focusing solely on default rates. The facility aims to mobilize approximately USD 120 billion in debt to meet the 2030 solar targets of shortlisted emerging market and developing economy countries.

The report analyzes R141 billion in pandemic-related loans from the IMF, World Bank, New Development Bank (NDB), and African Development Bank (AfDB). While these loans were cheaper than market-issued debt, the authors find they were approved opaquely and often carried conditionalities that pushed South Africa toward fiscal consolidation and privatization. The report highlights a lack of gender-responsive budgeting and human rights impact assessments, noting that austerity measures have negatively impacted social grants and public services. It recommends that all future IFI loan agreements and their projected costs be tabled in Parliament and subjected to human rights impact assessments.

The report analyzes the viability of first-of-a-kind clean fuel projects in Canada, finding that most are currently unprofitable without public support. It distinguishes between standard market risks, which investors can manage, and systemic failures—such as policy uncertainty, infrastructure deficits, and regulatory delays—that require government action. Through financial modeling of five project archetypes, the report highlights that only blue ammonia in Alberta shows consistent viability, while others struggle with high costs and technological immaturity. It emphasizes the need for Canada to rapidly implement a permissive policy environment to compete with the United States' Inflation Reduction Act and to foster equitable partnerships with Indigenous communities.

The report argues that the Dominican Republic can eliminate its annual US$2 billion electricity subsidy by investing 2.5 to 3 years' worth of those funds (US$4.5 to US$6 billion) into rooftop solar installations. Using a blended finance approach—combining government grants with local loans—the model aims to reduce household electricity costs by up to 90% over time while ending the government's reliance on volatile fossil fuel expenditures.

RMI argues that US airports are uniquely positioned to host multi-megawatt fast-charging hubs to support the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), particularly for high-mileage commercial drivers like ridehail and taxi operators. The brief highlights that the US transportation sector must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 45% by 2030 to align with a 1.5°C target, requiring 70 million EVs on the road. Using Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) as a model, RMI found that various business models can achieve an investment payback period of less than 10 years. The document emphasizes the need for early coordination between airports and utilities to manage infrastructure costs and capacity. It also notes that such hubs can address 'charging deserts' in lower-income areas and support mandates like California's Clean Miles Standard, which requires 90% of ridehail fleet miles to be electric by 2030.

CILRIF is a novel financial instrument developed by the UNCDF and partners to address the lack of affordable, long-term climate insurance and resilient infrastructure funding for cities in emerging markets. It operates through two linked facilities: an insurance facility providing 10-15 year coverage with premiums that decrease as cities meet resilience milestones, and a financing facility providing below-market rate loans for adaptation projects. The instrument uses a hybrid parametric and indemnity insurance model to provide immediate post-disaster liquidity while rewarding risk reduction. A financial model for 40 cities suggests that resilience interventions, such as drainage systems for flood risk or cooling networks for heat risk, can reduce annual premiums by 5% to 10% per intervention. The pilot phase targets Makati, Durban, and Freetown, with a goal of mobilizing USD 1 billion in commercial and concessional investment.

The Financing Steel Decarbonization (FSD) mechanism is a proposed dual-entity structure consisting of the Steel Decarbonization Financing Facility (SDF), a blended debt fund, and the Steel Decarbonization Initiative (SDI), a service company. The SDF aims to invest nearly USD 1 billion over five years to support both commercially available technologies (CATs) and new and innovative technologies (NITs), with a goal of mobilizing an additional USD 3.4 billion in private investment. The SDI provides non-financial support, including technical assistance, impact monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV), and deal brokerage to reduce investment risks. The mechanism targets the Indian steel sector, which contributes approximately 10% of the country's total emissions, aiming to reduce emission intensity by 25% and mitigate up to 250 MtCO2 against the baseline.

The Green Affordable Housing Finance instrument uses a two-pronged approach—a Guarantee Facility and an Enabling Environment Facility—to unlock local private finance for sustainable housing. It addresses the 'chicken-and-egg' problem where a lack of mortgage finance for low-income households disincentivizes developers from building affordable homes. The instrument will be piloted in Kenya in 2023, targeting the mobilization of USD 48 million in local loans during the pilot and over USD 400 million long-term. It requires all supported homes to be IFC EDGE certified, ensuring at least 20% reductions in embodied energy, energy use, and water use.

The Green Guarantee Company (GGC) is designed to unlock private institutional capital for climate projects in emerging and frontier markets by providing full hard-currency guarantees for bonds and loans of USD 50-200 million with maturities of 5-20 years. To address technical barriers, the GGC includes a USD 10 million technical assistance (TA) facility to build issuer capabilities and support certification against the Climate Bond Standard (CBS). The instrument will pilot in South Africa before expanding to other large emitters like Brazil, India, and Indonesia, and eventually to more vulnerable least developed countries. Financial modeling suggests the GGC can catalyze up to USD 10.6 billion in climate debt over 20 years, achieving operating breakeven within 3 to 7 years across various scenarios. Expected impacts include the addition of 7.97 GW of renewable energy capacity and the avoidance of approximately 75 Mt of carbon dioxide equivalent.

The Climate Smart Shrimp Fund (CSSF), developed by Conservation International, is a proposed loan bundle and technical assistance facility designed to transition extensive shrimp farms to a 'Climate Smart Shrimp' (CSS) model. This model increases production efficiency in a subset of ponds while restoring mangroves in others to provide carbon sequestration and coastal protection. The instrument is currently in a pilot phase in Indonesia, Ecuador, and the Philippines, with a goal to scale to a USD 100 million fund targeting six countries. Financial modeling suggests the approach can increase farm-level profits fourfold compared to business-as-usual scenarios and offers a viable debt service coverage ratio for investors.

The Reservoir Methane Capture Mechanism (RMCM) is a first-of-its-kind Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) designed to unlock public and private investment for capturing methane from the turbined waters of hydroelectric plants. The mechanism uses a 'methane capture-as-a-service' model to remove the need for initial capital expenditure by hydropower operators. The project follows a three-stage implementation: a USD 6.5 million proof-of-concept, a USD 54 million pilot phase involving five plants, and a scale-up phase targeting 273 projects with a potential capital mobilization of USD 3 billion. Revenues are generated through the sale of electricity and carbon credits, with the latter requiring the development of a new methodology via Gold Standard. At full scale, the RMCM aims to capture 217,000 tons of methane annually, avoiding 6.8 million tons of CO2e.

The Fund for Nature (TFFN) is a financial instrument designed to provide market-rate project-level debt to nature-based carbon projects, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa. By offering an alternative to the common practice of pre-selling carbon credits at steep discounts to corporate buyers, TFFN aims to increase the revenue captured by local project implementers and communities. A central innovation of the fund is the development of a standardized, open-sourced Simple Agreement for Future Offtake (SAFO), which serves as a bankable document to secure future carbon credit supply and act as collateral for debt. The fund targets the agriculture, forestry, and blue carbon sectors, specifically focusing on afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). A pilot fund of USD 50-70 million is envisioned, with the potential to scale as voluntary carbon markets are projected to grow significantly by 2030.

The document argues that structured finance contracts often insulate fossil fuel assets from market forces, creating a barrier to clean energy transition. Using the Red Hills Power Plant in Mississippi as a case study, it proposes a restructuring model that provides financial benefits to electricity customers, bondholders, the coal supplier, and workers while accelerating the plant's retirement.

The report examines how financial aggregation—bundling small-scale energy assets into portfolios—can address the financing gap for distributed renewable energy (DRE) in developing countries. It identifies general SME financing barriers and specific aggregation hurdles, such as lack of track records and currency risk. The document proposes enablers including digital data solutions, standardisation of KPIs, and the use of green, social, and sustainability (GSS) bonds to attract institutional investors. While the market is nascent, the report highlights early successes in Rwanda, Côte d'Ivoire, and Brazil as blueprints for scaling clean energy access.

The report proposes a 'Cooling as a Service' (CaaS) model to increase smallholder farmer incomes in India by providing pay-as-you-go access to decentralized, clean-energy cold storage. This model, supported by the 'Your Virtual Cold Chain Assistant' (VCCA) mobile app, aims to reduce food waste and allow farmers to sell produce during high-price windows. Financial modeling for apple farmers in Himachal Pradesh suggests that CaaS can increase farmer incomes by 36% and provide project internal rates of return (IRR) exceeding 22.5%. The initiative targets the mobilization of USD 200 million and the benefit of 1.5 million farmers by the replication phase.

The Amazônia Sustainable Supply Chains (AMSSC) Mechanism, proposed by Natura and Mauá Capital, aims to scale the bioeconomy in the Brazilian Amazon by addressing financing gaps for smallholder cooperatives. The instrument consists of a receivables fund that provides upfront payments based on off-take agreements and an Enabling Conditions Facility (ECF) for technical and community support. The pilot targets 3 million hectares of forest conservation by 2030, potentially avoiding 1.4 billion tons of CO2 emissions. It employs a blended finance structure with subordinated, senior, and potentially mezzanine tranches to de-risk investments and catalyze further corporate and philanthropic capital.