Development Finance
Photo by Anna Balm
Development finance plays a significant role in financing countries’ green economic growth. CPI works with development finance institutions to assess the effectiveness of their policies, instruments, investments, and portfolios, while identifying risks and opportunities. This includes work with the International Development Finance Club (IDFC), a group of 26 national and regional development banks from all over the world, to map their green finance commitments and provide recommendations for how they can align their operations and strategies with the Paris Agreement.
Featured work
Publication
Discussion Paper: An Innovative IFI Operating Model for the 21st Century
This paper lays out key products and processes that need to be introduced, reformed, and/or scaled to effectively deploy new volumes of climate finance, focusing on multilateral development banks.
Publication
Enhancing the Role of National Development Banks in Supporting Climate-Smart Urban Infrastructure
This paper focuses on enhancing the role that National Development Banks play in supporting the acceleration of climate-smart urban infrastructure investment.
Publication
Implementing Alignment: Recommendations for the International Development Finance Club
This study identifies the changes the Paris Agreement implies for the role of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) – specifically members of the IDFC – and how they may implement these changes through a targeted set of activities.
Latest work
Publication
Green Guarantee Group Flagship Report 2026: From Recommendations to Implementation
Green guarantees are one of the most effective tools for unlocking private capital. Despite the growing availability of guarantees between 2012 and 2024, a crucial gap remains. The GGG 2026 flagship report examines the evolving guarantee landscape & trends across 4 priorities.
Publication
IDFC Green Finance Mapping 2026: Biodiversity Analysis
IDFC biodiversity finance rose 79% to USD 14.2 billion in 2025. A stocktake shows members are building biodiversity into their strategies. Explore the key findings and the priorities for scaling up biodiversity finance.
Blog
The Water Resilience Debt Platform: A New Model for Catalyzing Investment
CPI explores a new financing model mobilizing private capital for water infrastructure in South Africa
Blog
From Commitment to Catalyst: Unlocking the Full Potential of VCEFs
With concessional climate finance becoming increasingly scarce, public funds must be deployed strategically to stimulate larger investments in emerging markets and developing economies.
Publication
UDB Currency Risk-Sharing Facility
This instrument design report explains how Uganda Development Bank, through the FiCS Innovation Lab, has designed the innovative Climate Risk-sharing Facility to mitigate currency risk to scale affordable lending for green projects.
Publication
Unlocking Climate Risk Insurance: The Role of Public Development Banks
Rising climate risks demand stronger economic resilience. While vital for everything from small farms to infrastructure, insurance remains limited in EMDEs. Our report explores how scaling these solutions can protect physical assets and unlock capital for high-risk markets.
