In February 2021, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) launched the COP26 Blended Finance Platform within the UK Impact Programme, supported by The Palladium Group, CDC Group and Convergence Blended Finance. The initiative is focused on identifying blended finance solutions that mobilize more climate finance and investment to developing countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement objectives, and more specifically, help initiate a suite of commitments, structures and projects that can be showcased in the context of COP26.
The report begins by taking stock of where and how blended finance has been applied to date, to identify the successes as well as existing gaps in mobilizing private capital to climate solutions. Examples of blended finance structures with proven efficacy at mobilizing private sector financing at scale are outlined, as well as a series of six recommendations targeting a range of stakeholder types, for how to stimulate greater blended capital flows to climate aware transactions and interventions.