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The report argues that while the quantity of climate finance is widely tracked, its quality—defined as the degree to which it induces structural shifts toward low-emission, climate-resilient, and equitable economies—remains under-analyzed and non-standardized. It introduces a three-level analytical framework (project, market, and system) to move beyond one-off interventions toward 'transformational climate finance.' The study identifies ten dimensions for assessing transformational potential, including affordability, equity and justice, and programmatic approaches. It also reviews existing measurement tools used by institutions like the IFC, GCF, and UK ICF, noting a convergence in project-level tracking but significant fragmentation in market and system-level assessments.

The document addresses the significant underfunding of climate-smart agrifood systems, which contribute approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. It argues that while public and private capital are necessary, concessional capital is essential for the 'missing middle'—projects with high impact but sub-commercial returns. The playbook outlines five specific investment strategies: system-level approaches, natural capital restoration, shared climate-smart infrastructure, technical assistance for innovation, and the scaling of local financial intermediaries. It includes a framework to help donors, foundations, and development finance institutions design and implement blended finance strategies to accelerate the transition to net-zero agrifood systems.

The report analyzes how Brazilian states in the Amazon biome are transitioning from federal dependence to active leadership in forest restoration. While states have successfully implemented mandatory restoration frameworks tied to the Forest Code and pioneered PES and REDD+ programs, the report identifies significant fragmentation. Key barriers include burdensome bureaucracy for native species forestry, a lack of integration with carbon markets (except in Pará), and inconsistent regulations across states that hinder landscape-scale projects. Pará is highlighted as the leader with the most comprehensive framework, including a dedicated State Plan for the Restoration of Native Vegetation.

The document highlights a significant disparity in climate finance distribution, noting that LDCs received only 1% of global mitigation finance in 2022. It argues that current debt-based financial mechanisms are ill-suited for LDCs due to limited fiscal space, currency risks, and weak enabling environments. To address this, the report showcases successful innovations such as the Africa Risk Capacity (ARC) for parametric insurance and the Peace Renewable Energy Credit (P-REC) for electrification in conflict zones. It concludes that donor governments, philanthropies, and development finance institutions must prioritize grant-based and highly concessional capital to build resilience in the most vulnerable nations.

The report argues that legal gold garimpo in the Amazon has evolved from an artisanal practice into an industrial-scale business, yet it remains subject to anachronistic regulations that lack necessary socio-environmental safeguards. Analysis of National Mining Agency (ANM) data shows a significant increase in authorized areas between 2016 and 2023, with cooperatives dominating the landscape. The authors highlight critical gaps, such as the lack of a 'prior discovery' requirement for garimpo and the undue simplification of environmental licensing in Pará, which delegates authority to municipalities despite the high-impact nature of the activity. The document recommends extending industrial mining requirements to cooperatives, shelving lenient legislative bills in Congress, and implementing a rigorous three-stage licensing process with mandatory Environmental Impact Studies (EIA/RIMA) in Pará.

The briefing analyzes Resolution CMN No. 5,193/2024, noting progress in banning credit for projects involving native vegetation suppression and illegal deforestation. However, it highlights significant risks, including the expansion of credit access for irregular occupations in public forests and a lack of robust monitoring and sanctions to ensure environmental compliance.

The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) proposes 13 measures to align the 2025/2026 Plano Safra with Brazil's climate goals. Key recommendations include restricting rural credit for properties with any deforestation (legal or illegal), aligning sustainable practice criteria with the upcoming Brazilian Sustainable Taxonomy, and improving the monitoring of pasture recovery projects. The brief also advocates for prioritizing vulnerable smallholders in the Pronaf program and harmonizing the socio-environmental restrictions of the Rural Insurance Premium Subsidy Program (PSR) with those of rural credit.

The report finds that decentralized waste management models, such as community groups in Indonesia and waste picker cooperatives in Brazil, often exhibit greater cost efficiency and lower levelized costs of waste management (LCOW) than private or government operators. Despite this, public funding remains low and concentrated in large-scale projects, with organic waste management receiving only 1% (USD 20 million) of methane abatement finance in 2021/22. The analysis highlights that while these decentralized models provide significant co-benefits like job creation and emissions reduction, they face financial strain due to high labor dependency and a reliance on operational revenues for funding. The document recommends creating legal certainty for informal stakeholders and adopting holistic, multi-sectoral approaches to waste management to improve access to financing.

The report analyzes organic waste management models in Indonesia and Brazil, finding that decentralized, community-based, and household-level systems often offer greater cost-efficiency (lower Levelized Cost of Waste Management) than large-scale centralized projects. While private operators achieve economies of scale, community groups face severe financial pressure due to low operational margins and reliance on short-lived assets. The study recommends holistic policy approaches, legal recognition for informal workers, and the integration of co-benefits like job creation and methane reduction to attract more diverse funding, such as green bonds and carbon credits.

The document addresses the significant underfunding of climate-smart agrifood systems, which contribute approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. It argues that while public and private capital have roles, concessional capital is essential for the 'missing middle'—investments with high social and environmental impact but sub-commercial returns. The playbook proposes five 'investment plays': deploying system-level approaches, supporting natural capital restoration, strengthening shared infrastructure, expanding technical assistance for innovation, and scaling local financial intermediaries. It includes a four-step framework for investor action: diagnosing the landscape, identifying financing gaps, designing instruments, and integrating partnerships.

The report analyzes organic waste management models in Indonesia and Brazil, finding that decentralized, community-based, and informal models often exhibit greater cost efficiency and lower levelized costs of waste management (LCOW) compared to large-scale industrial projects. While labor remains the primary operational expense across all models, decentralized systems face significant financial strain due to low operating margins and reliance on short-lived assets. The study recommends a holistic approach that integrates waste management with health and climate goals, provides legal certainty for informal workers, and implements transparent monitoring systems to unlock diverse financing sources.

India's transition to electric vehicles (EVs) presents a dual reality for automotive MSMEs, which comprise 80% of the auto-component manufacturing base. While the decline of internal combustion engine (ICE) components threatens traditional revenue streams, the shift creates opportunities in high-value EV components like battery housings and motor casings. However, MSMEs face significant barriers, including high capital expenditure, a 'Valley of Death' in prototype financing (TRL 4-6), and a shortage of skilled labor. To address these, the report recommends the establishment of the Automotive Component Technology Upgradation Financing Facility (AC-TUFF) to provide blended finance and risk-mitigation tools.

The document outlines the operationalization of Indonesia's Sustainable Finance Committee (SFC) under Law No. 4/2023. It proposes a three-tier governance structure involving the Ministry of Finance, Bank Indonesia, and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to bridge institutional silos and align national climate targets with financial market mechanisms. The paper emphasizes the need for a formal Government Regulation to ensure the SFC's authority, the creation of a centralized data platform for ESG transparency, and the use of sectoral coalitions to co-create bankable financial solutions for priority sectors like energy and transport.

This report analyzes the financial viability and cost-efficiency of decentralized organic waste management models in Indonesia and Brazil. It compares government-operated, private, and community-led systems, finding that decentralized models—such as community groups in Indonesia and home composting in Brazil—often achieve lower Levelized Cost of Waste (LCOW) despite facing significant financial tensions and limited public funding. The study highlights that labor is the primary operating expense across all models and recommends a holistic approach that integrates informal workers and community actors into formal legal and financial frameworks to scale methane abatement.

This executive summary from the Climate Policy Initiative proposes a framework for 'urban-inclusive country platforms' to bridge the financing gap for urban climate action. It argues that national governments should integrate subnational and urban priorities into the design and governance of country platforms to better align development finance with local mitigation and resilience needs.

In 2021/22, Nigeria received USD 2.5 billion in climate finance, representing a 32% increase from 2019/20 but leaving an annual finance gap of USD 27.2 billion. Public actors provided 70% of this funding, with multilateral development finance institutions (DFIs) as the largest providers at 48%. Mitigation investments (USD 1.2 billion) dominated, primarily driven by solar PV, while adaptation finance (USD 0.74 billion) covered only 6% of estimated needs. The report highlights a heavy reliance on debt for international public finance and identifies critical barriers such as high capital costs, a lack of bankable projects, and limited green fiscal incentives.

The playbook argues that gender integration in climate finance is a strategic necessity because women are disproportionately affected by climate change yet act as key drivers of adaptation and mitigation. It outlines a spectrum of gender integration—ranging from 'Gender Biased' to 'Gender Transformative'—and proposes a four-step process for creating gender-responsive instruments: conducting gender analysis, formulating a gender strategy, developing a gender action plan, and monitoring and evaluating outcomes. The guide provides specific implementation tools, including sample assessment areas for gender analysis and indicators for measuring success across internal operations, investment activities, beneficiary impacts, and capacity building.

Global climate finance for agrifood systems reached USD 94.9 billion in 2021/22, representing 7.2% of total global climate finance. While flows have increased since 2019/20, the report finds that investment is critically misaligned, with a massive funding gap of USD 1.1 trillion annually required through 2030 to align the sector with climate goals. Growth is heavily concentrated in domestic public investment in China and Europe, while private capital remains largely absent in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. Mitigation finance is dominated by energy-related projects like agrivoltaics, while adaptation finance remains heavily reliant on public grants. The report calls for a strategic mix of financial instruments and policy reforms to unlock capital for high-impact solutions such as soil carbon management and nature-based solutions.

The document provides the technical framework for tracking climate finance in agrifood systems, introducing an expanded taxonomy and a keyword tagging system to capture investments in non-traditional sectors. It distinguishes between 'comparable' and 'adjusted' flows to separate actual investment growth from improvements in data collection. Key data sources include the Global Landscape of Climate Finance (GLCF) and specific agrifood datasets, with a notable increase in finance attributed to energy systems supporting agrifood between 2019/20 and 2021/22.

The report analyzes the New PAC's infrastructure plans for the Amazon, finding a disconnect between project distribution and actual regional needs. It highlights contradictions between the program's green growth discourse and its inclusion of high-impact projects like the Ferrogrão railroad and BR-319 highway, as well as investments in natural gas power plants. The authors argue that the New PAC lacks transparency and fails to align with the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAM). Recommendations include creating a comprehensive regional development plan, prioritizing infrastructure in the 'Deforested Amazon', and shifting energy investments toward solar and wind power.