Michael Westphal

Senior Associate, Sustainable Finance, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities

Bio

Michael is a Senior Associate in the Sustainable Finance team. In addition, he works on the New Climate Economy project and with the Ross Center for Sustainable Cities on the World Resources Report on sustainable cities (“Towards a More Equal City”) and the Coalition for Urban Transitions. He has led work on climate finance, low-carbon energy, and urban energy.

Michael has more than 18 years of experience working in the environment, climate change and international development fields. Prior to joining WRI, Michael was a Senior Associate at Abt Associates, where we was the Technical Director for the USAID Analysis and Investment for Low-Emission Growth project. He has worked for and consulted for a number of international organizations, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme. For the ADB, he co-led a study on the Economics of Climate Change in East Asia. At the World Bank, he co-authored a number of reports, including the World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change, Adapting to Climate Change in Europe and Central Asia, and Adaptation to a Changing Climate in the Arab Countries, as well as helping to lead the development of the World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal. Prior to this, Michael was an American Association for the Advancement of Science Science and Technology Policy Fellow in the EPA’s Office of International Affairs, where he worked with the State Department on a science cooperation and weapons non-proliferation project in the former Soviet Union.

Michael holds a PhD in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from the University of California at Berkeley, with a focus on ecological modeling and conservation planning.

Blog Posts

Powering Cities in the Global South: How Energy Access for All Benefits the Economy and the Environment
by Michael Westphal, Sarah Martin and David Satterthwaite - September 07, 2017
Cleaner cooking, off-grid generation and efficient buildings are key to sustainable urban development for the world's poorest.
3 Reasons Renewable Energy Is Poised to Take Off in Developing Cities
by Michael Westphal - June 27, 2017
Declining costs, political commitment and innovative finance and business models are driving installation.
Why Now Is the Time to Make Energy Access in Cities a Top Priority
by Michael Westphal, Sarah Martin and David Satterthwaite - October 11, 2016
When delegates gather in Quito for Habitat III to adopt the New Urban Agenda for sustainable cities, they should keep in mind people like Adelaida, a banker and mother in Accra, Ghana, where unreliable, expensive electricity is a challenge. As a forthcoming paper of the World Resources Report shows, ensuring access to affordable energy and the economic opportunity it brings will be essential for a sustainable, prosperous urban future.
World Resources Report: Towards a More Equal City - Framing Opportunities and Challenges
by Victoria A. Beard, Anjali Mahendra and Michael Westphal - October 06, 2016
Once every 20 years, the world's urban leaders gather to determine the best course of action for the world's cities. This year, at Habitat III, the 21st century challenges for cities are clear. WRI's World Resources Report examines whether providing equitable access to services can make cities more economically productive and environmentally sustainable.
Improving Life for the Urban Under-Served Makes Cities Better for All – But That’s Not the Only Reason to Do It
by Michael Westphal, Anjali Mahendra and Victoria A. Beard - September 20, 2016
Tackling inequality in the world's cities can be a crucial way to foster urban development, improve the environment and spur the economy.
5 Principles to Guide Financial Institution Action on Climate Change
by Giulia Christianson and Michael Westphal - December 09, 2015
A new initiative launched in Paris this week demonstrates the growing recognition that action by financial institutions – both public and private – is necessary to begin shifting trillions of dollars toward low-carbon development.
INSIDER: Getting to $100 Billion in Climate Finance: How Close Are We?
by Joe Thwaites, Athena Ballesteros and Michael Westphal - October 07, 2015
We’re now halfway towards the 2020 deadline – set in 2009 – for developed countries to mobilize $100 billion a year in climate finance. It’s essential to show that developed countries are keeping their commitments so developing countries know they have support for ambitious action when countries meet to forge a new global climate agreement in Paris this December. So with five years to go, how close are we to $100 billion a year? And how could we get there?
G7 Leaders Signal 21st-Century Shift to a Zero-Carbon Economy
by Jennifer Morgan and Michael Westphal - June 10, 2015
For the first time ever, the G7 rallied behind a long-term goal to decarbonize the global economy over the course of this century.
How Can the World Secure $100 Billion in Climate Finance?
by Michael Westphal and Pascal Canfin - June 03, 2015
Getting to $100 Billion: Climate Finance Scenarios and Projections to 2020 is one of the first quantitative analyses of realistic funding scenarios to achieve the climate finance goal of $100 billion annually by 2020. It shows that if a variety of sources are included, climate finance could total $109 to $155 billion in 2020 under projections of low-medium growth and leverage.
International Development Finance Club Commits $89 Billion to Climate Finance in 2013
by Michael Westphal - December 11, 2014
The International Development Finance Club (IDFC)—a group of international, national, and regional development banks based in the developed and the developing world—released its annual report on green investment (i.e. mitigation, adaptation and ‘other’ environmental finance which includes environmental protection and remediation related projects)—as the world’s climate negotiators were meeting in Lima, and its numbers are significant.

Publications

Designing and Testing a Methodology to Estimate Private Climate Finance Mobilization from Policy and Other Causal Factors
Climate finance is increasingly important with the recent entry into force of the Paris Agreement. Countries will need significant amounts of climate finance to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions, and the largest pools of finance exist in the private sector. Consequently,...
by Ashley Green and Michael Westphal - September 2017

publication
Topics: Finance
Geography: Brazil, Kenya, Uruguay
Powering Cities in the Global South: How Energy Access for All Benefits the Economy and the Environment
Millions of residents in some of the fastest growing cities in the world don’t have access to clean, reliable energy, and the challenge of reaching them is not getting easier. In 2012, only 58 percent of the urban population had access to electricity in low-income countries, and nearly 500...
by Michael Westphal, Lihuan Zhou, David Satterthwaite and Sarah Martin - September 2017

publication
Topics: WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities
Geography: Africa, Latin America, South Asia
Towards a More Equal City: Framing the Challenges and Opportunities
Cities are growing differently today than before. As much as 70 percent of people in emerging cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America is under-served. Furthermore, cities face challenges in four areas:

Highest rates of urbanization are in sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast
...
by Victoria A. Beard, Anjali Mahendra and Michael Westphal - October 2016
publication
Topics: WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities
Transformational Climate Finance: An Exploration of Low-Carbon Energy
This working paper examines how climate finance can be transformational by gleaning insights from nine low-carbon energy case studies, selected to cover a variety of geographies, energy sources, and degrees of transformation.

by Michael Westphal and Joe Thwaites - March 2016

publication
Topics: Finance
Getting to $100 Billion: Climate Finance Scenarios and Projections to 2020
This paper contributes to the dialogue about what types of finance could count toward the $100 billion goal.

We analyze this question quantitatively by projecting various finance sources forward to 2020 to demonstrate the scenarios under which reaching the $100 billion goal is possible....
by Michael Westphal, Athena Ballesteros, Jennifer Morgan and Pascal Canfin - June 2015

publication
Topics: Finance, Climate, COP 21

External Publications

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Michael Westphal

Powering Cities in the Global South: How Energy Access for All Benefits the Economy and the Environment

3 Reasons Renewable Energy Is Poised to Take Off in Developing Cities

Why Now Is the Time to Make Energy Access in Cities a Top Priority

World Resources Report: Towards a More Equal City - Framing Opportunities and Challenges

Improving Life for the Urban Under-Served Makes Cities Better for All – But That’s Not the Only Reason to Do It

5 Principles to Guide Financial Institution Action on Climate Change

INSIDER: Getting to $100 Billion in Climate Finance: How Close Are We?

G7 Leaders Signal 21st-Century Shift to a Zero-Carbon Economy

How Can the World Secure $100 Billion in Climate Finance?

International Development Finance Club Commits $89 Billion to Climate Finance in 2013

Designing and Testing a Methodology to Estimate Private Climate Finance Mobilization from Policy and Other Causal Factors

Powering Cities in the Global South: How Energy Access for All Benefits the Economy and the Environment

Towards a More Equal City: Framing the Challenges and Opportunities

Transformational Climate Finance: An Exploration of Low-Carbon Energy

Getting to $100 Billion: Climate Finance Scenarios and Projections to 2020

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