International Financial Architecture and Financial Engineering for the Climate and Nature

The COP climate and biodiversity negotiations often focus on the issue of the financial resources that are mobilized or need to be mobilized for action and investment related to the climate or biodiversity. The succession of recent crises and global events (Covid-19, war in Ukraine, inflation and rate hikes) has reduced fiscal space and compromised the debt sustainability of a number of countries, while there are still major financing needs for climate-resilient development trajectories. This note will analyze the various situations specific to these countries beyond simply the issue of financial mobilization. Indeed, some countries are more or less concerned by adaptation issues, while others are faced with mitigation and the transition, or biodiversity protection, or all three. And they are all a common component of an SDG 2030 Agenda.

The first part of this note outlines the challenges and possible reforms of the global debt restructuring framework. It also sets out the many proposals for structural reforms to the global framework embodied by the historical institutions that came about through the agreements of Bretton Woods or the OECD’s DAC. The second part explores a wide range of financing solutions (financed or non-financed) that can be used, on a case-by-case basis, for the reduction, retention or transfer of environmental and natural risks.