At the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) united to advocate for sustainable urban planning, green infrastructure solutions, and climate change resilience programs that strengthen communities and economies across the globe. Their collective focus is on building resilient, inclusive, and climate-smart development systems tailored to each country’s needs.
Scaling Climate-Smart Development
MDBs are championing initiatives that combine reliable infrastructure, stable institutions, employment opportunities, and adaptation strategies to climate shocks. By integrating sustainable urban planning into national and city-level strategies, they aim to improve livelihoods while safeguarding ecosystems. Their efforts include harmonizing financing processes and enhancing client-focused solutions to ensure projects have long-term impact.
Mobilizing Finance for Adaptation and Resilience
In 2024, MDBs provided $137 billion in climate finance for adaptation and mitigation, alongside $134 billion mobilized from private capital. Of this, $85 billion and $33 billion, respectively, supported low- and middle-income economies. MDBs project these numbers will rise to $120 billion in direct financing and $65 billion in mobilized private funds by 2030, fueling green infrastructure solutions across vulnerable regions.
Delivering Impact at Scale
Since 2019, MDBs have doubled their support for climate adaptation and resilience, delivering over $26 billion to low- and middle-income countries in 2024 alone. Their approach links finance with policy dialogue, strategic planning, and institutional capacity-building. The newly launched technical paper, From Innovation to Impact: Building Resilience for People and Planet, outlines strategies to scale adaptation and strengthen climate change resilience programs.
Driving Nature-Positive Investments
MDBs are expanding resources for nature-based solutions and improving methodologies to attract private capital. At COP30, they introduced a framework for nature financing, including the Common Principles for Tracking Nature Finance and A Practitioner’s Guide to Results Metrics Selection. These tools are designed to support high-quality financial products while enhancing systemic resilience through green infrastructure solutions.
Advancing Country-Led Climate Strategies
Through the Joint MDB Long-Term Strategy Program, the banks help clients design and implement country-driven platforms for climate planning, fostering sustainable urban planning that aligns with national priorities. This ensures that adaptation and mitigation efforts are effective, context-specific, and inclusive, benefiting communities most vulnerable to climate shocks.
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This story was first reported by APO Group. Read the full article here.
