USAID Climate Finance for Development Accelerator (USAID CFDA)

Southern Africa holds immense potential for carbon markets, but the journey from potential to reality varies dramatically across the region. In collaboration with the USAID Climate Finance for Development Accelerator (USAID CFDA), we assessed the state of carbon regulations and nature-based carbon projects in six countries: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa. Key findings from the assessment: ◼ South Africa leads with 93% of the region's carbon credits and Africa's only active compliance market ◼ While 21 nature-based carbon projects are registered across the region, none have issued credits yet. Primarily due to financial, methodological, regulatory, and market challenges ◼ Namibia shows promising progress with a draft Carbon Market Framework awaiting Cabinet approval ◼ In South Africa's compliance market, current credit supply meets only ~30% of domestic demand Scroll below to learn how Southern Africa can unlock its full carbon market potential, driving both climate action and economic growth. Download the full report: https://lnkd.in/eNDjckEk #CarbonMarkets #ClimateAction

We are pleased to announce that AWE (Achieving Women Equity) Funds and Deetken Impact are the two latest Climate Gender Equity Fund (CGEF) grant awardees, with funding going to boost climate action in India and across Latin America and the Caribbean. CGEF is a public-private partnership led by USAID with partners Amazon, Reckitt, Skoll Foundation The UPS Foundation, and Visa Foundation which seeks to increase access to climate finance for gender-responsive, women-led, and women-benefiting organisations. Grantmaking under CGEF is managed by 2X Global. Learn more about the latest awards at the 🔗 below: https://lnkd.in/edavPwTQ

Amazing to hear Priya Thachadi most recent grantee of the Climate Gender Equity Fund (CGEF) spearheaded by USAID Amazon Skoll Foundation UPS FOUNDATION INC Visa Foundation with 2X Global as the grants manager and Chemonics International as a key partner Priya in convo with Emily from the White House Gender Equality Policy Council and eloquently outlines that “in south east Asia and Phillpines where she lives that they are well past if climate change is real but are in the thick of experiencing climate crises daily- across rising sea levels, farming issues, worsened economic security and more” Bravo Priya and appreciate you making it real and grounding us in why moving gender smart climate finance is so essential and how it yields enhanced financial, economic and social outcomes 🙏🏼

The Development Guarantee Group Chief Executive Officer, Lasitha Perera, presented on the Green Guarantee Company (GGC) at the High-Level Roundtable on Urban Climate Finance which took place as part of the Ministerial Meetings on Urbanization and Climate Change at COP29 Azerbaijan today. Many thanks to the UN Environment Programme and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) for their kind invitation to GGC to participate. It was an engaging session with a number of national and local governments from both the Global North and the Global South articulating eloquently the challenges they face in helping their urban populations adapt to the consequences of climate change and more pertinently the challenges in raising urban climate finance to implement the solutions they need. It was clear that the urban climate finance gap doesn't fit the Global North (has finance) vs Global South (doesn't have finance) paradigm - it is truly a Global issue. There was universal consensus that guarantees have an important role to play in helping channel more urban climate finance from the private sector. To this end Lasitha reaffirmed that GGC, as the world's first climate focused guarantor, is ready to play its part in helping to address the barrier created by a misperception of the risks associated with urban climate finance. In conclusion, Lasitha also made the point that the strongest and most active capital markets globally are underpinned by a strong and active real estate sector. Consequently, it is not just the case that the construction sector needs finance, but equally true that the finance sector needs a strong construction sector. #COP29 #BuildForClimate #ActOnCooling Roland Hunziker l Gulnara Roll l Hanane Hafraoui

The Lightsmith Group was honored to secure U.S. International Development Finance Corporation support for #SCALE Systemic Capital for Adaptation Localization and Expansion -- the first integrated investment platform for #adaptation and #climateresilience investment -- a "virtual #greenbank for #adaptation." U.S. International Development Finance Corporation joins Global Environment Facility and USAID in supporting the launch of #SCALE. #unavoidableopportunity #climateresilience now. Aparna Shrivastava, Jay Koh, Chizuru Aoki, Jason Spensley, Lindsey Doyle, Gillian Caldwell, Dewi Dylander

Iceland and the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) were confirmed on Thursday as the newest members of the Investment Mobilisation Collaboration Alliance (IMCA). COP29 in Baku has been dubbed the “finance COP,” and international collaboration will be critical to unlocking the massive investment needed to secure a net-zero future, particularly in the developing world. Both Iceland and the NDF announced commitments to join at an IMCA side event in the Blue Zone on Thursday, COP29’s Finance Day. “We are excited to join IMCA to help us further enhance this effort and learn from other Partners to bring the necessary finance into this space and to engage the private sector in scaling up their involvement,” said Elín R. Sigurdardottir, Director General of the Directorate for International Development Cooperation at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland. NDF Managing Director Satu Santala said: “NDF is very happy and proud to announce its commitment to join IMCA and is already gearing up to get involved at the practical level." "We all know that the landscape is fragmented and if we work together, we can find ways to make blended finance work better," she added. Launched at COP28 by the United States and the Nordic governments, IMCA is a pioneering platform for establishing blended finance solutions to catalyse investments in climate mitigation, adaptation and nature across emerging markets and developing economies. Representatives from each of IMCA’s existing partners were in attendance – the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway. The World Climate Foundation and the USAID Climate Finance for Development Accelerator (CFDA) are acting as IMCA’s Operating Partners, with support from the Climate Investment Coalition. #IMCA #IMCAatCOP29 #COP29 #ClimateFinance #Climate #WorldClimateFoundation