Shifting and Mobilizing Finance for Sustainability
WRI works to shift the world’s financial flows to support sustainable development and climate action.
Our Challenge
Banks, investment firms, multilateral funds, development agencies and government ministries wield tremendous power. Through their financial decisions, they inform which economic activities receive investment and which don’t, shaping our collective future.
Yet these institutions continue to invest too much money in unsustainable and polluting activities that threaten communities’ health and well-being. In 2020, the world invested $76 billion in coal supply, and much more into oil and gas. At the same time, we are still tens of billions of dollars short of funding promises made in the Paris Agreement on climate change, leaving vital mitigation and adaptation needs unmet. And private investors still lack tools, awareness and incentives to act more sustainably.
Global banks invested $2.7 trillion in fossil fuels since 2015
of the G20’s stimulus for the energy sector supports fossil fuels
Building resilience to climate change will require $300 billion a year by 2030
Our Approach
WRI aims to shift financial flows away from dangerous activities that fuel climate change and towards solutions for an equitable, low-carbon, climate-resilient economy.
We produce data-driven, policy-actionable research and convene coalitions that can influence financial institutions and markets. We uphold the role of finance in international climate change negotiations by providing expert input to the Paris Agreement process, tracking developed countries’ provision of finance, and publishing recommendations for improving climate finance architecture.
We strengthen the capacity of governments to access climate finance by working directly with ministries in India, Fiji and Guatemala.
We promote sustainable private-sector finance — including in our own endowment — by researching cutting-edge topics like physical climate risks and providing tools for investors and others. And we work to green multilateral development finance institutions and China’s Belt and Road Initiative through direct engagement and research.
The Paying for Paris Resource Hub provides a comprehensive, multimedia collection of tools for planning, raising and redirecting finance for national climate efforts. With interviews, policy briefs and a library of useful links, the hub showcases research, expert experience and case studies from around the world.
WRI's work on finance focuses on promoting sustainable private sector finance, strengthening development finance institutions, upholding the role of finance in international climate negotiations, and supporting governments’ capacity to access climate finance. Explore all projects in depth.
Private Sector Finance
Advancing sustainable investment and banking practices in the mainstream financial marketplace through tailored data, research and peer-to-peer learning.
Part of FinanceFinance for Developing Country Climate Action
Promote financing for developing country climate action by identifying key capacity bottlenecks and developing products to loosen those constraints.
Part of FinanceBelt and Road
Fostering China to lead by example and serve as a sustainable finance champion.
Part of FinanceInternational Financial Institutions
Strengthening sustainability policies and governance in strategically-important institutions—including the multilateral development banks—to promote financing for sustainable activities and discourage financing for unsustainable ones.
Part of Finance
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SubscribeFeature Finance Resources
China’s International Climate-Related Finance Provision and Mobilization for South-South Cooperation
Working Paper September 16, 2024