Collaboration and ESG language to unlock funding for sustainable infrastructure projects

September 5, 2023

Developing countries face many challenges in mobilising private sector investment for sustainable infrastructure projects. Solutions include international cooperation and common environmental, social and governance (ESG) taxonomies. To close the climate finance gap, we need additional private investment especially in low- and middle-income countries.

To serve this purpose, Multilateral development banks (MDBs) are encouraged to expand their support for sustainable infrastructure projects and increase their risk appetite. Furthermore, collaboration among G20 public development banks (PDBs) is encouraged to leverage their strengths and promote transformative impact.

A common ESG language will also help standardise assessments of sustainable investments, reduce greenwashing and attract specialised capital. The G20 is called upon to strengthen institutional networks among developing countries, to strengthen the PDBs, and to create a universal ESG taxonomy for sustainable finance.

Ultimately, the recommendations in this paper aim to contribute to a more sustainable global economy by fostering cooperation, reducing investment risks, and accelerating the flow of funds to sustainable infrastructure projects.

Speakers
Sabrine Emran
Senior Economist
Sabrine Emran is a Senior Economist at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS).At the PCNS, Sabrine Emran conducts research on the Energy Transition, Climate Finance, and Critical Minerals, focusing on the energy priorities of developing countries in the context of sustainable development, just energy transition, and global climate commitments.Before joining the PCNS in 2022, Sabrine Emran worked as a Commodities Analyst and Risk Management Consultant, specializing in agricultural and energy commodities as well as foreign exchange risk. She also held a position at Lyxor Asset Management as Request for Proposal and Product Specialist, where she focused on alternative investment asset classes and collaborated closely with institutional investors.Sabrine Emran holds a master’s ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • June 11, 2021
    Inequality is nowadays one of the most important issues facing many economies around the world, not only in developing countries but also in advanced and emerging ones. Today, there is a ...
  • June 11, 2021
    For science fiction writers, the universe has no limits. They imagine spacecraft conquering the unknown, the mining of asteroids, access to solar power and room for colonization by earthlings tempted by new frontiers billions of miles and dreams away. Or worlds to conquer barred by radioactive fields, devilish storms, metallic dust, unbearable darkness leading towards black holes and hell in space, and the sun, radiating up to 15 million degrees Celsius, which suggests nothing less ...
  • June 9, 2021
    The middle-income trap may well characterize the experience of Brazil and most of Latin America since the 1980s. Conversely, South Korea maintained its pace of evolution, reaching a high-income status. Such divergence of economic growth can be related to their distinctive performances o...
  • June 9, 2021
    The Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), in partnership with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), will hold a workshop at the occasion of the launch of the “Free Trade Zone Risk Assessment Tool”, scheduled to take place on Wednesday, June 9th 2021 at 3pm GMT. It has been demon...
  • June 9, 2021
    The Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), in partnership with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), will hold a workshop at the occasion of the launch of the “Free Trade Zone Risk Assessment Tool”, scheduled to take place on Wednesday, June 9th 2021 at 3pm GMT. It has been demon...
  • Authors
    June 7, 2021
    First appeared at AMERICAS QUARTERLY A growing global imbalance threatens to further weaken already vulnerable emerging markets. The massive vaccine disparities between advanced and developing economies may exacerbate what the IMF has dubbed “divergent recoveries”—with dire consequences for Latin America. Despite being home to only 8% of the world’s population, the region has already suffered nearly 30% of all global COVID-19 deaths. The pandemic has ...
  • June 4, 2021
    The Native Indians in Guyana are among the country’s poorest populations. The RE NEW TT project wished to address one of the major problems the country’s Native Indian community is dealing with: the lack of access to energy. RE NEW TT installed a PV solar system at the sole indigenous p...
  • Authors
    Nadia Makara
    June 3, 2021
    In an effort to spur economic growth, industrial parks were created to combine industrial activities with infrastructure, service, and commercial activities. These parks involve a collection of businesses, utilizing a combination of heavy and light manufacturing, that are located in a dedicated zone for industrial use to boost efficiency, minimize operational costs, and maximize output. Though industrial parks can contribute to economic growth and social development in a region, the ...
  • June 2, 2021
    Otaviano Canuto, Policy Center for the New South The conceptual framework of natural wealth that we approached in the previous video may be illustrated with cases drawn from Sub-Saharan Africa. With at least 250 million inhabitants in resource-rich African countries, natural assets are ...
  • Authors
    May 31, 2021
    China is the world's largest exporter of goods. It is also, by any plausible criterion, a developing country. China's dual status needs to be better reflected in Chinese policies - recognizing its global responsibilities -- and in those of the Western powers - recognizing China's limitations. Across three important agendas - macroeconomics, development assistance, and climate - important differences between China and the West remain, yet none of these issues appears intractable. ...