Search Climate Insights Directory

The report analyzes climate finance in Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL), specifically in Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet, Narok, and West Pokot. It finds a significant misalignment in funding, with over 60% of climate finance directed toward mitigation despite the high vulnerability of these regions to climate-induced droughts and floods. The study identifies severe funding gaps, where actual budgetary allocations for climate action in some counties are as low as 2% to 9% of estimated needs. Key barriers include weak institutional capacity, fragmented governance, and limited access to formal financial markets. The report recommends strengthening county-level technical skills, promoting innovative financing like green bonds and blended finance, and mainstreaming climate priorities into local budgeting to improve adaptation outcomes.

The report examines the role of securitisation in developing African capital markets, noting that while South Africa has a mature market, other sub-Saharan regions remain nascent. It identifies significant barriers, including fragmented legal and tax frameworks, a lack of a 'ratings culture', and limited understanding among financial institutions. Despite these challenges, the study finds a substantial supply of securitisable assets in banking, microfinance, and fintech sectors. It recommends a holistic regulatory approach, the use of anchor investors from DFIs and MDBs, and the adoption of scalable structures like warehouse facilities to mobilise private capital and bridge the private credit gap.

The document examines the potential for scaling up locally led adaptation (LLA) by leveraging the different strengths of bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, vertical climate funds, and private actors. It highlights that LLA can deliver 'double dividends'—combining direct climate resilience with broader socio-economic development—and suggests building on established community and local development (CLD) models. The brief emphasizes the need for better coordination to overcome challenges such as declining official development assistance (ODA) and limited technical capacity, while calling for more robust evidence on the cost-benefit analysis of LLA compared to top-down approaches.

BCP and Attawfiq Micro-Finance launched Morocco's first Gender Bond, raising USD 25 million to provide microloans and non-financial services to over 17,000 women, addressing systemic barriers to financial inclusion in both urban and rural areas.

The document examines UNI2, a Colombian microfinance institution, to determine how financial intermediaries can support responsible investment in agricultural value chains. By applying an adapted RAI Tool methodology involving self-assessments and interviews, the study explores UNI2's role in influencing sustainable practices and providing feedback to improve the RAI Tool's scoring and filtering mechanisms. The analysis demonstrates that financial institutions contribute to responsible agricultural investment by providing capital, influencing behaviors, and sharing knowledge within rural economies.

The document evaluates UNI2 Microcrédito, a Colombian microfinance provider, using the RAI Scoring Tool to determine its compliance with the CFS-RAI principles. While UNI2 is not an agribusiness, the exercise served to refine the tool's indicators and design. UNI2 achieved an overall compliance score of 69%, performing strongest in inclusive and transparent structures (97%) and weakest in environmentally sustainable processes (31%). The study highlights UNI2's role in providing critical credit to rural farmers and micro-entrepreneurs, particularly through its CARGA vehicle financing line, while identifying gaps in its environmental risk management and social empowerment programs.

The document argues that while Africa's food systems face profound climate impacts, only a small fraction of adaptation finance reaches local actors. It proposes a shift toward 'locally led adaptation' through principles like subsidiarity, flexible funding, and risk-taking, alongside practical strategies such as engaging local governance, supporting microfinance, and leveraging digital technologies like blockchain.

The report details the outcomes of the FSD Network Conference held in Nairobi, Kenya, in February 2025. It examines the impact of gender-responsive financial systems, the use of alternative credit scoring, the influence of societal gender norms on financial autonomy, and the role of digital public infrastructure and AI in bridging the gender gap in financial services across Africa.

The research paper examines the critical role of women in climate mitigation across sectors like agriculture and energy, while highlighting systemic barriers such as limited land ownership and educational gaps. It advocates for feminist climate justice frameworks and gender-responsive policies, citing successful initiatives in Kenya, Nepal, Senegal, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia, and aligning these with global frameworks like the UNFCCC's Lima Work Programme on Gender.

The 'Resilient Puna' project is a 6-year initiative in the Southern High Andes of Peru (SHAP) designed to restore and conserve 23,914 hectares of Puna ecosystems (peatlands, wetlands, and grasslands). The project focuses on enhancing the resilience of 60,715 direct beneficiaries, primarily Quechua Indigenous Peoples, by integrating ancestral knowledge with modern science to implement EbA measures and develop Climate Resilient Value Chains (CRVC). A central feature is the 'Puna Facility,' a financial mechanism managed by Profonanpe that provides non-repayable and repayable grants to local initiatives. The project also aims to mainstream EbA into national and regional governance, improve water security for over 2 million indirect beneficiaries, and achieve a mitigation co-benefit of 407,657 tCO2eq.

The document outlines a readiness project to bridge the financial gap in Colombia's AFOLU sector, which accounted for 58% of national GHG emissions in 2020. The project focuses on three main barriers: Finagro's limited capacity to operationalize its Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) and Gender policies, the lack of capacity among first-tier financial intermediaries to implement GCF investments, and the low adoption of the national green taxonomy. Key activities include developing operation manuals for Finagro, training Bancamia staff on risk analysis and green investment, and designing two new financial products aligned with the green taxonomy. The project is implemented by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) over an 18-month period.

The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) has invested over US$45 million in resilience innovations across the Global South, supporting 7 million people. The 2024 portfolio highlights several specific projects: the Near East Foundation's community-based credit systems in Sudan; Mountain Harvest's regenerative coffee farming in Uganda; MetaMeta's 'Green Roads for Water' initiative in Kenya and Ethiopia; Farm to Feed's digital marketplace for surplus produce in Kenya; FSPN Africa's carbon farming in Kenya and Tanzania; ROOH's climate-resilient housing in India; Mahila Housing Trust's heat action plans in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal; and Centro Sabiá's greywater reuse and agroforestry in Brazil.

Climate Resilient Landscape Finance (CRLF) is an innovative umbrella facility combining microfinance, private debt, and technical assistance to address the lack of bankability for sustainable land use in African conservation areas. The instrument aims to mobilize USD 12 million in capital to support local landowners and landscape management companies, leveraging international carbon and biodiversity credit markets to create self-sustaining conservation economies. A pilot phase will begin in the Northern Maasai Mara, Kenya, with plans to expand across Eastern and Southern Africa.

In Datinakhali, Bangladesh, frequent extreme weather events like cyclones and flash floods have trapped residents in a debt cycle with loan sharks. To counter this, World Vision established the Samabay Samiti, a cooperative fund committee where female members save weekly to access low-interest microloans and receive business training. The initiative has enabled members, such as Swapna Parvin, to establish diversified livelihoods in cosmetics and build household assets, leading to the program's expansion and a trial collaboration with BRAC.

The report provides a comprehensive overview of the climate finance landscape in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, detailing the mechanisms used to fund climate action. It analyzes the roles of multilateral funds (such as the GCF and GEF), bilateral aid, national budgets, and emerging private sector instruments like green bonds and blended finance. The document highlights significant funding gaps, particularly for adaptation, and recommends strengthening institutional frameworks, adopting climate budget tagging, and improving technical capacity to develop bankable projects.

The report identifies a significant global MSME finance gap, estimated at USD 5.2 trillion in 2017, which is exacerbated for green enterprises in developing economies. Key barriers include high informality, inappropriate collateral requirements (favoring fixed over movable assets), and information gaps regarding ESG criteria. The authors recommend establishing green taxonomies, improving credit guarantee schemes, and creating a global green MSME financing facility to leverage Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).

The report examines the challenges poor and vulnerable communities in the global South face when accessing traditional finance and highlights four sustainable, locally-led financing models: Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) groups, the Tresor Women Warriors profit-sharing model, Kiva crowdfunding via field partners, and the Abalimi Bezekhaya subsidised cost model. It argues that financial access must be paired with capacity building and private sector mentorship to effectively strengthen community resilience.

Public international finance dominates Indonesia's blue finance, while commercial banks are the primary private sources. MSMEs, particularly in the fisheries sector, face significant barriers to accessing formal credit due to physical collateral requirements and a lack of credit history. While most MSME loans are concentrated in Java, the highest growth is observed in the Lesser Sunda Islands. The report recommends reducing entry barriers, investing in human capacity, and improving infrastructure to spur private investment in the blue economy.

The report finds that while identification and mobile money access for refugees in Uganda improved significantly due to policy changes, formal financial service adoption remains hindered by high transaction costs and long travel distances to agents. Refugees rely heavily on non-employment income and informal savings groups (ASCAs and ROSCAs), with a notable increase in cash kept at home for health emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately reduced refugee incomes and increased expenditures, particularly for food and medicine. The report recommends expanding branchless banking, improving digital and financial literacy, and introducing microinsurance and sustainable energy solutions to enhance refugee financial health.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative outlines the climate finance landscape in Kenya, identifying a significant funding gap and a disproportionate flow of resources toward mitigation rather than adaptation. It proposes three innovative financial blueprints—the African Conservancies Fund, the Chyulu Hills Payment for Ecosystem Services, and the Green Village Savings and Loans Association—designed to mobilize private capital for underfunded adaptation sectors.