Financing An Inclusive And Green Future

The Asia-Pacific region has made considerable progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but the region is still off track on many crucial MDG indicators. This publication considers the challenges the region faces for achieving the Goals and shows that they are still within reach, given sufficient determination and financial resources. It starts by estimating the financial needs of the region for closing the gaps in achievement of the MDG targets and identifies potential sources for those funds. It also shows how Asia and the Pacific can take the lead in developing a more inclusive and development friendly financial system. Finally, the report discusses challenges -including technology and finance- for promoting growth that is inclusive and sustainable -green growth- that will help the region achieve the MDGs.

Inclusive Green Growth: The Pathway to Sustainable Development makes the case that greening growth is necessary, efficient, and affordable. Yet spurring growth without ensuring equity will thwart efforts to reduce poverty and improve access to health, education, and infrastructure services.

This publication explores some of the barriers that hinder external finance from making greater contributions to the sustainability of landscapes in the global south. It provides insights into the potential of blended finance, green bonds and crowdfunding structures to contribute to bridging that gap. The document is meant for investors that are new to land-based investments in the global south and are particularly interested in achieving social and environmental impacts. It is also written for development organizations with little experience in leveraging private finance for local development and conservation and for future practitioners in this field. The authors identified several gaps in knowledge and experiences, and it is hoped that through this document the readers will be motivated to fill in those gaps in the near future, contributing to scaling up finance for sustainable and inclusive landscapes.

Rapid economic development has been a boon to human well-being, but comes at a significant cost to the fertile soils, forests, coastal marshes, and farmland that support all life on earth. If ecosystems collapse, so eventually will human civilization. One solution is inclusive green growth--the efficient use of natural resources. Its genius lies in working with nature rather than against it. Green Growth That Works is the first practical guide to bring together pragmatic finance and policy tools that can make investment in natural capital both attractive and commonplace. Pioneered by leading scholars from the Natural Capital Project, this valuable compendium of proven techniques can guide agencies and organizations eager to make green growth work anywhere in the world.

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The fintech industry has transformed the way individuals handle their finances, conduct transactions, and access financial services over the past decade. With increased efficiency and cost-effectiveness, fintech has emerged as one of the most profitable industries globally. However, the growth of fintech also presents an opportunity to promote sustainability and social responsibility in the financial sector. Fintech can contribute to financial inclusion, reduce economic disparities, and advance sustainable development goals through the integration of technology. The Sustainable Fintech Revolution: Building a Greener Future for Finance explores how fintech can be used to promote sustainability in the financial industry. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the fintech ecosystem and its potential for advancing sustainability goals, including case studies of companies that have integrated sustainability into their business models. It also offers insights and recommendations for policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, and fintech companies on how they can promote sustainability in the financial industry. This book is ideal for academics and researchers in finance, technology, sustainability, and development studies, as well as practitioners in the fintech industry, policymakers and regulators, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on sustainable finance and development issues.

"This report was written by a team led by Marianne Fay [... et al.]."

The financial sectors of the Middle East and Central Asia (ME&CA) countries should play an important role in supporting climate-related policies for the region. The sectors are vulnerable to downside risks from climate-related shocks and at the same time offer the potential to help fill the financing gap for needed adaptation and mitigation strategies. Successful approaches to climate change in the region therefore need to coherently integrate financial sector strategies within the overall policy framework to meet this important challenge. To this end, policymakers must ensure that financial sectors are prepared for a green future. This means enhancing the resilience of banks to physical and transition risks from climate change and boosting the capacity of insurance sectors to speed recovery from climate-related disasters and help offset economic costs. Moreover, policies are needed to foster an enabling environment for private green finance, attract investment from other official entities, such as sovereign wealth funds (SWF), and facilitate support from international financial institutions and multilateral development banks. In the near term, policy efforts should center around better understanding and measuring climate-related risks. This includes prioritizing the implementation of methodologies for quantifying and reporting such risks, promoting their transparent disclosure by financial institutions, and strengthening frameworks for their forecasting and analyzing. Over the medium term, governments can play an important role in supporting green finance through incentives and market mechanisms, phasing-out energy subsidies, and introducing new tools and markets (such as carbon pricing frameworks), which can stimulate demand for investment in green technologies. The paper offers a unique regional perspective on climate risks in ME&CA's financial sectors and outlines the road ahead in transitioning to a green future. It is the first to evaluate the impact of climate change on banking institutions in the region and assess the capacity of insurance in mitigating climate-related damages and losses. It contributes to the existing literature by synthesizing the size and nature of regional financing needs for adaptation and mitigation and discussing both opportunities and challenges for the development of green finance. The paper's policy recommendations provide guidance to policymakers on how to develop regulatory responses to enhance financial sustainability amid climate change risks.