Bolder Ambition, More Urgency, Unflinching Determination

We are at a moment, globally, that can seem quite dismal. Every day we hear of runaway weather shocks, rising sea levels, and ratcheting temperatures.

But I have hope. I will tell you why.

Five years ago, keeping the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) alive was just a shared dream. Even though it was championing crucial climate finance for low- and middle-income countries, it was set to be phased out.

Fifty nations spoke up then and testified to what the CIF had meant for them. Fifty nations – among them some of the most climate-vulnerable in the world – called for bigger ambition, more urgency, and greater determination, because the future safety and well-being of billions of people was at stake.

We have answered that call.

My own appointment as Chief Executive Officer marks a sea change for this institution. For CIF to bring in a leader who has lived experience in the trenches of private finance, who has spent a lifetime working in and for developing economies, who has launched landmark energy projects and invested in communities on the frontlines of climate change – this is a powerful statement.

It says things can – and will – be done differently.

And that’s crucial. Because we are standing at the edge of a global precipice. Either we fundamentally transform how our economies and societies function – or we face catastrophe for both the planet and its people.

The finance needed for this system change is so significant that it is without precedent. To keep global temperatures below 1.5°C, the Climate Policy Initiative calculates that we must mobilize six times our current funds – or US$8.5 to US$10 trillion, every year, to 2050.??

We have never faced an ask so great, or needed to act so quickly, or at such scale.

But instead of shying away, CIF has chosen to step forward. To go where we are needed most.

That is, after all, what CIF has always done. When this organization was founded in 2008, no one had figured how to consistently deploy renewable energy at large scale in developing countries. We asked: why not? And then sparked a solar revolution in developing economies. We found a way.

And now, sixteen years later, we are doing it again.

CIF has by now grown into a $12 billion catalyst for change, the “first father” of climate finance. But we have kept that same early flame of fearlessness and resolve alive, continuously learning from the countries and communities we work with. Out of that richness of experience, we are setting a new bar for ambition.

It starts with putting countries at the heart of our work. This is an acknowledgement that there is no single pathway to a just, low-carbon, climate-resilient future; each country’s response must match their needs. We are also recognizing that the decisions about where to direct funding should come from those who are already doing the hard work, and who know where bold action is most pressingly required.

Secondly, the multilateral climate funds and the multilateral development banks – the global architecture needed to raise and deploy trillions of dollars climate funds – must pull together to create a whole even greater than our individual parts. It’s time to sharpen our institutions and deliver climate programs that can also unlock social, economic, and environmental outcomes.

And thirdly, we need to pull up a chair and invite the private sector to work alongside us. The extraordinary sums required for system change do exist, but not in public budgets alone. That’s why we will be the first multilateral climate fund to fully unlock the potential of the private capital market.

The scope and breadth of these ambitions may seem daunting. But I have said this before and I will say it again: CIF was created for this time. We were made for this moment.?

Let’s get to work.

Read CIF's 2023 Annual Report to learn more.