Sources of global climate investment

International funds dedicated to slowing or adapting to climate change are increasingly available to developing country cities for investment in urban transit and energy-efficient construction.

The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), which produces the most comprehensive inventory of climate change investment available, reported that 54 percent came from private sources in 2016 (CPI 2018, p.2), with a growing amount from public entities like governments and bilateral or multilateral banks.

As noted earlier, about $5.3 trillion are needed in sustainable urban investment globally. The Climate Policy Initiative’s tracked data shows sustainable financing is growing but still falls short of need. In 2018, the $464 billion to $666 billion of tracked sustainable investment represented only 8.8 percent to 12.7 percent of the need (CPI 2018, p.7).