IDFC Pledges Billion-dollar Funding to Combat Climate Change

The International Development Finance Club (IDFC) presented at the Climate Action Summit in New York the progress and commitments of its 24 members in mitigating and developing resilience to the effects of global warming. The funding totaled $134 billion for green growth projects in 2018.

During the period 2014–2018, IDFC national and regional development banks disbursed an average USD 150 billion per year in climate financing, which accounts approximately for 20% of their total financial commitments. In addition, the IDFC has considered providing more than USD 1 billion in climate funding by 2025, including a greater share for climate change adaptation and resilience. IDFC banks also pledged to work hand in hand with the public and private sectors to shift private capital towards sustainable, climate-compatible development.

The IDFC also pledged to promote carbon neutrality in the long term, relying on a faster pace and larger coverage of investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as clean technologies. To this end, it will apply stricter investment criteria and establish explicit policies to eliminate or minimize carbon financing.

CAF secretary-general, Victor Rico, stressed CAF “is working to become a carbon-neutral institution, and in the context of our 50th anniversary, we hope to offset our carbon footprint for all the years of operation.”

The institution presented its goal of allocating 30% of its disbursements to green funding by 2020, 40% by 2025 and 50% by 2030. Activities to help fight against climate change also include the new water strategy 2019–2022 and its Cities with a Future initiative, which promotes mitigation and adaptation in CAF-funded projects in Latin American cities.