Country platforms are a way for governments to align public and private, national and international finance at scale behind country-led plans and policy reforms to deliver climate, nature, and development goals. Since Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) were launched in Indonesia, Senegal, South Africa, and Vietnam beginning in 2021, several other nations have picked up on the platform concept, broadening the focus to include adaptation-focused investments and new types of countries. Country platforms build on similar development-focused initiatives from the late 1990s and early 2000s to align finance behind country-led plans.

Country platforms offer a promising mechanism for achieving transformational impact by mobilizing finance at scale, in a structured and coherent way, overcoming the current top-down, fragmented, and project-based approach. But successful design and implementation is not simple. Country platforms require institutional capacity and strategic coordination among numerous actors, including policymakers, development finance institutions, private investors, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), community groups, and more. They require flexibility to adapt to the country context and careful sequencing of policy reform, project pipeline development, and funding flows. Otherwise, country platforms can result in added confusion and frustration, creating expectations and workloads that outweigh benefits. This expert note sets out the roles different financial actors can play in successful country platforms, aiming to inform governments interested in setting up platforms as well as finance providers and others engaged in the process.