Public Development Banks: Addressing the Challenges of Financing Climate Change Mitigation

Though the need to scale up financing to mitigate climate change and the associated challenges and barriers are well documented, there has been little discussion of the role that can be played by Public Development Banks (PDBs), either national or subnational. These institutions have a privileged position in their local markets, strong knowledge of their countries' development needs, and opportunities and vast experience in long-term investment financing. As a result, they are uniquely positioned to catalyze the supply of financing for and stimulate the demand for investment projects to mitigate climate change within their respective countries. This technical note discusses lessons learned from a number of PDBs within the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region and examples of best practices, processes and products in support of climate change mitigation from PDBs around the world.