Funding for climate-related investments

With the increasing floods we have experienced locally and have been seeing and reading about in world news, it seems timely and of utmost importance that we should put the spotlight on our own efforts - from the government to local banks and Philippine conglomerates - to address our climate change problems through increased funding for climate-related investments.

- MARIANNE GO

According to a recent World Bank report, in almost 60 percent of banks in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDES), lending for climate-related investment accounts for less than five percent of their overall portfolios, and more than one-quarter offer no climate financing at all.

This is significant, the World Bank report warned, because in developing economies, banks dominate the financial sector, unlike in advanced economies where the financial sector is more diversified.

Climate change, the World Bank pointed out, is expected to have a significant impact on economic opportunities and development outcomes in EMDES, requiring far greater investment than they currently receive.

Banks in EMDEs, the World Bank report stated, have the potential to play a larger role in closing the climate financing gap.

"Emerging markets and developing economies face substantial financing gaps in low-carbon, climate-resilient investments. We need to step up climate action and crowd in private investment," said Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank senior managing director of development policy and partnerships.