Climate Finance for Catalysing Transformative Economic Development

Day 5 (12 March 2021): 7th Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum
Stream: Economic Sector Resilience
Enabler: Finance and Investment
Lead Organiser: Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Session Title: Climate Finance for Catalysing Transformative Economic Development

Effective implementation of climate resilience actions will require sustainable finance and investments in the public and private sectors. Along with the volume of finance, it will be critical to ensure such finance is prioritised for novel resilience-building measures, such as Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and is channelled to strengthen economic resilience of the poor and vulnerable population.

Key messages:
• Climate adaptation finance should be urgently scaled up in both quantity and quality, for strengthening resilience of economic sectors and ensure it meet the needs of the poor and marginalized population, such as the smallholder farmers and micro and small enterprises.
• Transformational adaptation in economic sectors would require financing that is long-term, patient and risk-taking; typically beyond project financing; and with a focus on strengthening financial systems to deliver on resilience outcomes.
• COVID-19 recovery provides an opportunity to deploy innovative financing products and solutions that can deal with the dual crisis of climate change and economic recovery.

Moderator:
Preety Bandhari - Chief of the Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Thematic Group and Director of the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department (SDCD), Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Keynote :
Barbara Buchner - Global Managing Director, Climate Policy Initiative (CPI)

Presenters:
Sophie De Coninck - Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) Manager, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
Kisa Mfalila - Lead Regional Environment and Climate Specialist for Asia and the Pacific (APR), International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD)
Mikko Ollikainen - Manager, Adaptation Fund Board Secretariat
Paola Sherina A. Alvarez - Finance Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson/Head of Communications, Department of Finance, Philippines

Burst Talk
Charlotte Benson - Principal Disaster Risk Management Specialist, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Sejal Patel - Researcher, Climate and Environment Economics, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
Roberto Leva - Investment Specialist, Trade & Supply Chain Finance, Asian Development Bank (ADB)