Blog Posts: green finance

From sustainable fashion to "micromobility," seven stories playing out in 2019 will influence the future of environment and international development.

The COP 24 climate negotiations in Katowice, Poland delivered mixed results. Finance was an important part of the package agreed upon. Some countries made new financial commitments, but overall pledges fell short of the scale needed to enable truly ambitious action in line with what the latest science is calling for. On a more positive note, negotiators agreed on post-2020 financing rules that improve transparency on both past and future funding, and establish important processes to deliver on the...

The Forest Resilience Bond, backed by several foundations, an investment company and even an insurer, provides an innovative way to bring down costs to utilities and other stakeholders.

Analysis of 35 large banks found that, by and large, they are unable to convey their overall climate progress. Many report on their climate-friendly investments, but few offer the full picture by also reporting their financing of activities that add emissions, too.

Governments will meet Wednesday in Stockholm to decide how to replenish the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a fund that helps developing nations meet international environmental agreements. GEF grants finance everything from toxic chemical clean-up to biodiversity protection to anti-wildlife trafficking efforts.

The 2018 United States budget poses some complications for climate finance. It will take time for its implications to be clear—here's what to watch.

Mahindra Rise Chairman Anand Mahindra told a World Economic Forum crowd that climate action is “the next century’s biggest business and financial opportunity.”

When President Donald Trump announced his intention to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement, he had plenty to say about international climate funding. Much of it was simply inaccurate.

WRI researchers analyzed energy supply investments from the World Bank, International Finance Corporation and Asian Development Bank. While only 3 percent of this financing is misaligned with the goal of limiting temperature rise to 2⁰C, about half fell into a “conditional” category; its alignment with a low-carbon future depends on how projects are designed.

At a recent forum, leaders discussed the future of the Belt and Road Initiative, China'as massive infrastructure plan. Will it develop projects that protect the health and prosperity of its people in years to come, or put them and the global environment in jeopardy?