Mobilizing Climate Finance at Scale

Funded by an initial grant from the government of Canada and coordinated by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) as a key contribution to the NDC Partnership, Climate Finance Access Network (CFAN) aims to unlock and accelerate climate finance at scale by cultivating a network of highly skilled and embedded climate finance advisors. Undergoing a comprehensive, state-of-the-art training developed and delivered by CFAN members, these advisors work with countries to develop lasting national capacity, accelerate priority project development and maximize adaptation and mitigation outcomes. As a global network that brings together developing countries, donor countries and institutions and regional and international organizations, including many NDC Partnership members, CFAN helps countries and direct-access entities to navigate and access various sources of funding, with a focus on LDCs and SIDS in Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean.

The NDC Partnership has been a critical contributor to CFAN, providing key input to its conceptualization and implementation and serving as an active member since its launch in 2021. The Partnership was invaluable to CFAN’s early development, particularly in formulating an effective, complementary network and governance structure that avoided duplication. The Partnership was also essential in aiding CFANs initial country engagement and outreach. Insights from the Partnership on the financing challenges faced by their country members proved critical in designing CFAN advisor terms of references and ensuring the CFAN Training Program was responsive to country needs. As part of CFAN’s Advisory Group, the Partnership has continued to offer guidance on developing CFAN advisors’ mandate, offer complementary technical assistance support to CFAN Pacific Country members and help coordinate country demand by sharing relevant resources and information.

Since its launch in 2021, CFAN has gone on to achieve major milestones with support from its member initiatives. CFAN has hired and onboarded dedicated climate finance advisors in eight Pacific countries: Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. CFAN advisors are embedded in their respective government ministries and, as of August 2022, have completed 10 project concept notes for multilateral financing worth a total of USD 48 million. These projects cover a range of sectors, spanning climate-smart agriculture, solar and resilient housing, grid-connected solar and battery storage, among others.

Advisors have also completed the CFAN Training Program. The CFAN Training Program was designed to be complementary to other embedded advisory support by building advisors’ skills and lasting national capacity. All CFAN advisors complete a rigorous, multi-month climate finance training program aimed at developing practical skills in project design, financial modelling and structuring, multistakeholder engagement and facilitation and understanding the regional circumstances and challenges. Intentionally designed with a strong train-the-trainers approach, CFAN advisors are well equipped to build national capacity by delivering similar training to their national counterparts.

A decentralized network of diverse members spanning academia, nongovernmental organizations, multilaterals and intergovernmental institutions, CFAN’s membership has continued to grow. CFAN currently has 20 member initiatives representing each key CFAN region, all of whom sit on the CFAN Advisory Group, where they provide updates, share knowledge and best practices, ensure transparency, maintain contact across the network and provide guidance on CFAN’s growth and evolution. The NDC Partnership has been a critical member of the CFAN Advisory Group, and CFAN has benefited from their experience placing facilitators and economic advisors in country and providing services to support low-income countries in meeting their climate objectives.

CFAN’s theory of change envisions building critical mass across SIDS and LDCs by continuing to build a strong global community of practice around climate finance. To achieve this goal, CFAN aims to expand its Pacific cohort and scale into the Caribbean and Africa.

Visit the Climate Finance Access Network website to learn more.