Gaia Larsen

Senior Associate, Finance Center

Bio

Gaia Larsen is a Senior Associate in the WRI’s Sustainable Finance Center, where she leads its work on financial institutions and climate finance readiness. She is an attorney whose work focuses primarily on shifting investments toward protecting people and the environment. At WRI, her work has focused on several issue areas including environmental democracy, climate finance, and the extractive industries. Prior to joining WRI, Gaia was a fellow at the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University. Gaia holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. She is originally from Sweden.

Blogs

INSIDER: Four Ways the Green Climate Fund Can Strengthen Its Next Strategic Plan
by Joe Thwaites, Lauren Sidner, Gaia Larsen and Molly Caldwell - February 03, 2020
This guiding document should outline how the GCF will achieve 1.5-aligned ambition, approach adaptation, avoid watering down the quality of its programs, and empower developing country institutions.
So Far, Green Bonds Fail to Raise Much Money for Resilience. The Climate Resilience Principles Aim to Change That
by Gaia Larsen, Giulia Christianson and Niranjali Amerasinghe - October 15, 2019
The demand for green bonds is high, but only 3-5% of the proceeds go to climate resilience. That's in part because there hasn't been a standard for how to evaluate whether a project will increase resilience to climate change — until now.
6 Questions on Climate and Development for the World Bank Presidential Candidates
by Joe Thwaites and Gaia Larsen - March 01, 2019
The World Bank plays a pivotal role in enabling sustainable, low-carbon development and climate action. Its next president should be a leader on the issue.
4 Ways Development Banks Can Better Support the Paris Agreement
by Gaia Larsen, Caitlin Smith, Lutz Weischer, Sophie Bartosch, Hanna Fekete and Aki Kachi - December 04, 2018
Multilateral development banks are spending billions of dollars on climate finance. By aligning their entire operations with the Paris Agreement they can maximize the bang for their buck.
Colombia’s Climate Finance Tracking System Registers $6 Billion Worth of Action
by Indira Masullo, Hyun Jun Ra and Gaia Larsen - November 28, 2017
Because better information about climate finance offers big benefits, Colombia worked with WRI and its partners on a new system to measure, report and verify how much funding goes toward climate change projects. Launched November 27, the system has registered $6 billion worth of climate change actions.
There Are Billions of Dollars Available for Climate Projects. Collaboration Can Help Countries Access It.
by Gaia Larsen - November 14, 2017
The Green Climate Fund has several billion dollars of resources to distribute over the next few years. Entities seeking funding should work together and learn from one another in order to get that money into the hands of the organizations who need it most.
Are Multilateral Development Banks Supporting a Low-Carbon Future?
by Giulia Christianson, Allison Lee, Gaia Larsen and Ashley Green - May 26, 2017
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.
Congress and Trump Gut Disclosure Rules for Fossil Fuel Foreign Payments
by Gaia Larsen and Peter Veit - February 22, 2017
Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act required that oil, natural gas and mineral extraction companies report payments made to foreign governments. Congress and President Trump eliminated it last week.
INSIDER: 3 Takeaways from the Green Climate Fund Meeting
by Niranjali Manel Amerasinghe and Gaia Larsen - October 24, 2016
Last week, the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) convened in Songdo for its penultimate meeting in 2016. As the biggest multilateral climate fund to date, the GCF has a vital role to play in delivering on the goals...
The World Bank Just Overhauled its Safeguards for the First Time in 30 Years
by Gaia Larsen - August 24, 2016
The World Bank's new Environmental and Social Framework, four years in the making, is designed to ensure that the approximately $30 billion the bank invests each year goes to projects that are safe for people and the environment. This framework is likely to have an impact on the policies of other development banks and governments around the globe.

Publications

Toward Paris Alignment
How the Multilateral Development Banks Can Better Support the Paris Agreement
To contribute to the fight against climate change, the MDBs have to date largely operated under what we refer to as a Climate Finance Paradigm. That paradigm involves defining, tracking, and maximizing the amount of climate finance that MDBs provide and mobilize. Climate finance has been...
by Gaia Larsen, Caitlin Smith, Nisha Krishnan, Lutz Weischer, Sophie Bartosch and Hanna Fekete - December 2018

publication
Topics: Finance
Financing the Energy Transition: Are World Bank, IFC, and ADB Energy Supply Investments Supporting a Low-Carbon Future?
Finance provided and catalyzed by multilateral development banks (MDBs) will help pay for implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement in many developing countries. Although MDBs already track and report on their climate finance, less is known about how...
by Giulia Christianson, Allison Lee, Gaia Larsen and Ashley Green - May 2017

publication
Topics: Finance
Future of the Funds: Exploring the Architecture of Multilateral Climate Finance
Multilateral climate funds play a key role in using public finance to help drive the economic and societal transformation necessary to address climate change. There is growing pressure for policymakers to make the architecture of funds more effective and coherent. This report examines seven key...
by Niranjali Manel Amerasinghe, Joe Thwaites, Gaia Larsen and Athena Ballesteros - March 2017

publication
Topics: Finance
“Direct Access” to Climate Finance: Lessons Learned by National Institutions
Developing countries need large amounts of finance to support ambitious climate actions. This paper highlights lessons for developing country institutions seeking access to funding from the multilateral climate funds.

by Indira Masullo, Gaia Larsen, Louise Brown and Lisa Dougherty-Choux - November 2015

publication
Topics: Climate Resilience, Finance
Striking the Balance
Ownership and Accountability in Social and Environmental Safeguards
Global growth has not come without costs: Pollution, natural resource depletion, climate change, and the disruption of ecosystem services are now felt around the world.

This report aims at helping investors in developing countries develop effective social and environmental safeguard...
by Gaia Larsen and Athena Ballesteros - April 2014

publication
Topics: Governance, Finance
Safeguarding Forests and People
A Framework for Designing a National System to Implement REDD+ Safeguards
During the design of REDD+, Parties recognized that REDD+ actions will likely not be sustainable unless they account for the role of local people and ecosystems. As a result, Parties defined seven “safeguards” to guide implementation of REDD+, among them transparency, participation, protection...
by Gaia Larsen and Florence Daviet - November 2012

publication
Topics: Forests
Map of SBSTA Submissions
REDD+ Safeguard Information System
In June 2011, the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA) requested input on a guidance document for its REDD+ "safeguard information system." 26 groups have submitted input to date; this Working Paper describes and summarizes those submissions....

by Gaia Larsen, Florence Daviet and Daniela Rey - February 2012

publication
Topics: Forests

External Publications

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Gaia Larsen

INSIDER: Four Ways the Green Climate Fund Can Strengthen Its Next Strategic Plan

So Far, Green Bonds Fail to Raise Much Money for Resilience. The Climate Resilience Principles Aim to Change That

6 Questions on Climate and Development for the World Bank Presidential Candidates

4 Ways Development Banks Can Better Support the Paris Agreement

Colombia’s Climate Finance Tracking System Registers $6 Billion Worth of Action

There Are Billions of Dollars Available for Climate Projects. Collaboration Can Help Countries Access It.

Are Multilateral Development Banks Supporting a Low-Carbon Future?

Congress and Trump Gut Disclosure Rules for Fossil Fuel Foreign Payments

INSIDER: 3 Takeaways from the Green Climate Fund Meeting

The World Bank Just Overhauled its Safeguards for the First Time in 30 Years

Toward Paris Alignment

How the Multilateral Development Banks Can Better Support the Paris Agreement

Financing the Energy Transition: Are World Bank, IFC, and ADB Energy Supply Investments Supporting a Low-Carbon Future?

Future of the Funds: Exploring the Architecture of Multilateral Climate Finance

“Direct Access” to Climate Finance: Lessons Learned by National Institutions

Striking the Balance

Ownership and Accountability in Social and Environmental Safeguards

Safeguarding Forests and People

A Framework for Designing a National System to Implement REDD+ Safeguards

Map of SBSTA Submissions

REDD+ Safeguard Information System

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How the Multilateral Development Banks Can Better Support the Paris Agreement

Ownership and Accountability in Social and Environmental Safeguards

A Framework for Designing a National System to Implement REDD+ Safeguards

REDD+ Safeguard Information System

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