IDFC Green Finance Mapping for 2017
The International Development Finance Club (IDFC) doubled its commitment and hit the USD 200-billion mark in funding the fight against climate change and to remain aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement.
The IDFC is an international network that integrates the 23 major national and regional development banks, which has doubled its climate financing since COP21, from USD 100 billion by the end of 2014 to close to USD 200 billion in 2017. These new figures are included in the IDFC Green Finance Mapping for 2017, launched at the One Planet Summit (OPS), which shows the IDFC’s commitment to sustainable, low-carbon, climate-resilient development.
At the One Planet Summit (OPS), Rémy Rioux, head of the IDFC and director general of the French Development Agency, along with IDFC co-chairman, Patrick Dlamini, director-general of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and representatives of the members of the IDFC such as Victor Rico, Secretary-General of CAF-development bank of Latin America- and Mohamed Hedi Mejai, Adviser to the Chairman of the Board of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, announced that IDFC members pledged USD 220 billion in green financing in 2017, a steady increase of 27% from 2016, including USD 196 billion in climate financing.
These are domestic, as well as North-South and South-South financial flows.
- Adaptation funding doubled in absolute terms to USD 10 billion.
- The ratio of pledges for environmental funding to overall funding now stands at 27%, compared to 19% in 2016.
- China is represented within the IDFC network by the China Development Bank (CDB), and is the main contributor in these pledges, which demonstrates the key role of the CDB in climate-related projects.
- The IDFC survey uses common principles for climate mitigation and adaptation funding follow-up, prepared by the IDFC and multilateral development banks. Under the supervision of the Climate Policy Institute (CPI), the data’s reliability is verified and then results are presented as an aggregate value.
The head of the IDFC, Rémy Rioux, stressed that “development banks such as the IDFC members have a responsibility to contribute to the collective action needed to combat climate change.” The commitment of IDFC members with smart climate development is irreversible. The IDFC is a platform for global investment in sustainable development, and as such, it will always be proactive when climate action needs to gain traction, which includes, most importantly, contributing to the massive redirection of capital flows. This is how the funds will flow for the transition towards sustainable development.”
“The IDFC is mainly composed of development banks from the South, and meeting sustainable development goals is at the core of their activities. Therefore, after having struggled for decades to help attain development results on the ground, especially in poor and vulnerable areas, they know how progress is directly threatened by climate change,” said Patrick Dlamini, CEO of DBSA and co-chairperson of the IDFC.
The IDFC is a platform for advocacy, mobilization and action for low-carbon, climate-resilient development, which links local and international stakeholders as well as public and private finances.
The OPS was also an opportunity to recall that the IDFC is committed to aligning itself with the Paris Agreement process, financing short- and long-term low-carbon, climate-resistant strategies, and that stands as a unique platform to mobilize private local and international investments towards climate and sustainable development goals.