Climate-related financing to increase to between 25 percent and 30 percent by 2020

The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the goal of doubling the volume of its climate-related financing by 2020.

In order to increase investments in adaptation, particularly for countries within the region that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, the Bank also committed to screen all relevant projects for climate risks and resilience starting in 2018.

To date 17 governments from Latin America and the Caribbean have submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) in advance of the COP21 climate change summit to be held in Paris later this year. The IDB’s new climate finance goal is intended to assist these countries in meeting their commitments.

To that end, the IDB will increase the use of instruments to leverage private sector finance, including financing for adaptation and climate resilience. The consolidation of all of the IDB Group’s private sector operations into a single entity that will begin to operate on January 1, 2016, will also enhance its ability to develop and offer innovative financial products, such as green bonds.

The new climate finance goal is dependent on demand from the IDB’s clients as well as the Bank’s continued access to external sources of concessional finance, including the Climate Investment Funds, the Green Climate Fund and bilateral funds. This aspirational goal will also need to be formalized by the IDB’s Governors.

To accelerate these efforts to mainstream climate and sustainability throughout the IDB Groups operations, the Bank is also considering the implementation of changes to its climate and sustainability division that will allow it to have a much broader impact in both the public and private sectors. 

The new goal is based on the Joint Approach of the Multilateral Development Banks for Tracking Climate Finance. Based on this methodology, the IDB has devoted a yearly average of 14 percent of its financing to climate-related projects over the past three years (2012-2014). Doubling that volume would lead to a level of climate lending averaging between 25 percent and 30 percent of the Bank’s total approvals by 2020.