Finance

Working to shift the world’s financial flows to support sustainable development at the World Resources Institute

Why the CFTC’s New Report on Climate Change and Financial Stability Matters

A new report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on climate-related financial and market risks calls for a carbon price and climate stress testing, along with other recommendations.

The mission of WRI’s Finance Center is to promote the shift of finance away from environmentally unsustainable activities and toward sustainable ones. We do this through the production of data-driven, policy-actionable research and knowledge products and by convening coalitions of key stakeholders that can drive action on the ground.

Our team is multidisciplinary and brings together experience from academia and the public, private, and non-profit sectors.

Helping to Meet Global Challenges

The Finance Center supports the rest of WRI as we seek to tackle WRI’s Global Challenges. We do so through deep, multi-year partnerships with a subset of WRI Programs, through cross-cutting activities designed to influence financial institutions and markets, and through the provision of tailored technical advice to WRI’s programs and international offices.

Our work is structured around five key themes: (1) financing NDC implementation, (2) “greening” private sector finance, (3) strengthening public financial institutions, (4) encouraging the U.S. and China to be sustainable finance champions, and (5) strengthening investment in adaptation and resilience.

Keep up with our work by subscribing for news and updates via email and following us on Twitter @wrifinance.

Top Finance Outcomes

What's a top outcome?

Top outcomes are WRI's biggest success stories. They occur when our analysis, solutions, or partnerships result in significant change in the world.

Featured Expert

Giulia Christianson

Senior Associate, Head of Sustainable Investing

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February 24, 2021 Blog post

Why Investors Bought the First Certified Green Bond to Protect Forests for Drinking Water

CAW partnered with green finance experts Encourage Capital and WRI to pioneer the first-ever certified green bond to acquire forests for watershed protection. This bond offers important lessons to invest in forests for water quality
February 16, 2021 Blog post

With Patchy Guidance, Companies May Have Climate Risk Blind Spots

Climate impacts can cause financial losses from property damage, disrupted supply chains and more. According to WRI research, businesses may lack the resources they need to properly assess the full gamut of physical climate risks.
February 16, 2021 Publication

Assessing Physical Risks from Climate Change: Do Companies and Financial Organizations Have Sufficient Guidance?

This paper analyzes climate-related physical risk assessment guidance from leading corporate disclosure initiatives to examine whether existing publicly available guidance aligns with climate science and provides consistent terminology and robust methodologies for risk assessment.
February 03, 2021 Commentary

Confronting Simultaneous Climate, Public Health, and Economic Shocks in Developing Countries

Developing countries increasingly face the prospect of multiple shocks striking simultaneously or in rapid sequence, partly because of climate change. The current disaster risk architecture is not well suited to equip countries to cope with these compound shocks. We call for two major changes to the architecture to incentivize pre-disaster investment and adaptation.
January 28, 2021 Blog post

4 Climate Finance Priorities for the Biden Administration

To bolster U.S. influence and impact as it reengages in global climate action, the Biden Administration must prioritize climate finance in four key areas.
January 22, 2021 Publication

Locally Led Climate Adaptation: What Is Needed to Accelerate Action and Support?

This working paper examines the existing literature on locally led adaptation, looking at efforts that have optimized finance through direct and consistent collaboration with local actors and identifying initiatives that embody locally led principles rather than traditional stakeholder consultation or participation. In line with the Global Commission on Adaptation’s Year of Action, the authors sought to identify specific projects and designs that aim to catalyze accelerated action and support for locally led adaptation.