• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • News
    • Devex Invested

    Devex Invested: DFIs in the time of COVID, the UN SDG Investor Platform, and the business of climate

    In today's edition: How DFIs are faring in the era of COVID-19, "inclusive capitalism" explained, and strong green bonds.

    By Adva Saldinger // 20 April 2021
    Subscribe to Devex Invested today.

    Welcome to Devex Invested. I'm Adva Saldinger and in this new newsletter, I'll be bringing you news, analysis and insights on what's happening in financial markets, development finance institutions and corporations — and why it matters in financing global challenges.

    Development finance institutions don’t have the best record of investing countercyclically — but are they learning from past mistakes in their response to COVID-19? The jury is still out, but a few trends have emerged.

    • A year ago, DFIs were worried about the pandemic’s impact on their balance sheets. But the DFIs I spoke to — CDC Group, FMO, FinDev Canada, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. — say their clients have been more resilient than expected, reporting a minimal number of defaults or deferments thus far.

    Sign up for Devex Invested

    Our weekly newsletter inside business, finance, and the SDGs.

    • Some DFIs expected clients to have massive liquidity needs, but that wasn’t necessarily the case. DFC has invested only $644 million through the $4 billion rapid response liquidity facility it launched last year.

    • With balance sheets stronger than expected, we’ll be looking to see how much risk DFIs are willing to take.

    Read: DFIs take stock of their COVID-19 response

    A ‘lost decade’

    United Nations and political leaders warned of a potential “lost decade” for development at the U.N. Financing for Development Forum last week. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called for a “paradigm shift” to better align the private sector with the Sustainable Development Goals and for more political leadership on the issue.

    The U.N. Development Programme launched two initiatives:

    • The SDG Investor Platform, a partnership between UNDP and the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance, is a database of investment opportunities. “Increasing transparency and matching of demand and supply is key to the success of SDG-oriented investments,” said Oliver Bäte, CEO at Allianz, and Leila Fourie, CEO at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. 

    • UNDP launched the Integrated National Financing Framework Knowledge Platform, where countries can share plans for how to fund their national development strategies.

    Among the proposals floated was one from Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada for an “extraordinary support fund” to catalyze 0.7% of global gross domestic product through multilateral development banks in the form of concessional financing and investment.

    Green bonds going strong

    Despite the impact of #COVID19, the global #greenbond market achieved a key milestone of $1tn in cumulative issuance since 2007, w/ issuance of $280bn in 2020. More key stats in the new Emerging Market Green Bonds Report from @Amundi_ENG & @IFC_org: https://t.co/kKhrCrSWHA pic.twitter.com/7r3XOPklT2

    — Makhtar Diop (@Diop_IFC) April 19, 2021
    Via Twitter

    Business of climate

    Corporate momentum — or at least announcements — around climate and sustainable finance is building.

    • Last week, Apple called for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to mandate corporate reporting on carbon emissions. Sources tell me that the U.S. government could announce new rules for corporate reporting on climate later this year.

    • JPMorgan Chase announced that it aims to facilitate more than $2.5 trillion in investments over the next 10 years to “address climate change and contribute to sustainable development,” in part through the DFI it launched last year.

    + A recent report found that JPMorgan Chase was one of the largest financiers of fossil fuels in the past five years. Big banks in the private sector collectively invested about $3.8 trillion since the adoption of the Paris climate agreement.

    • Citigroup announced it is “committing $1 trillion to sustainable finance by 2030” — including $500 billion for environmental finance.

    Investerminology

    Inclusive capitalism: Yes, some may consider this an oxymoron — it is a form of capitalism focused on creating long-term value for businesses, investors, employees, customers, governments, and communities. In other words, it is capitalism that can create a fairer and more sustainable world.

    Watch: The Skoll World Forum hosted a debate last week about whether capitalism can actually be inclusive.

    1 meeting to watch

    Multilateral development bank heads meet virtually Wednesday to consider greenlighting a joint $250 million grant facility to improve their clients’ climate strategies — news we broke last week. We hear not everyone is sold on the idea. We’ll be watching.

    Your views

    Your next job?

    Sustainable Investing Associate 
    World Resources Institute
    Washington, D.C., United States

    Vanessa Holcomb Mann and Jessamy Nichols discuss how to know when catalytic financing makes sense. They offer four principles: support approaches that have long-term market impact; ensure additionality; appeal to investors; and prioritize sustainable approaches.

    Read: You don't need to be a finance expert to use 'catalytic funding'

    Investments of interest

    • Apple announced the Restore Fund, a carbon removal initiative that will make investments in forestry projects. The company said the fund — the first of its kind — aims to remove carbon from the atmosphere and demonstrate a viable financial model for scaling investment in forest restoration.

    • Amazon announced the $250 million Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund that will invest in Indian startups — particularly in agritech and health tech — to help small and medium businesses digitalize. The fund was announced as Amazon “faces heat from government bodies, and the small and medium-sized businesses that it purports to serve,” according to TechCrunch.

    • Banking & Finance
    • Trade & Policy
    • Funding
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Adva Saldinger

      Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal

      Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.

    Search for articles

    Related Stories

    Devex Pro LiveThe case for catalytic equity in climate and development finance

    The case for catalytic equity in climate and development finance

    Devex Pro LiveInside BII’s strategy to unlock private capital in Africa’s fragile markets

    Inside BII’s strategy to unlock private capital in Africa’s fragile markets

    Devex InvestedDevex Invested: How to finance development in turbulent times

    Devex Invested: How to finance development in turbulent times

    Devex NewswireDevex Newswire: Sevilla summit tests patience — and global ambition

    Devex Newswire: Sevilla summit tests patience — and global ambition

    Most Read

    • 1
      The power of diagnostics to improve mental health
    • 2
      Lasting nutrition and food security needs new funding — and new systems
    • 3
      Opinion: Urgent action is needed to close the mobile gender gap
    • 4
      The UN's changing of the guard
    • 5
      The top local employers in Europe
    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement