Building partnerships for climate and peace
Photo: Peace Dividend Initiative (PDI)
NDF commits EUR 500,000 to advance climate and peace initiatives
NDF has joined Incofin Investment Management, the Peace Dividend Initiative, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to design and develop the Climate and Peace Investment Fund (CPIF). The initiative aims to address the interconnected challenges of climate change and conflict by increasing access to finance for entrepreneurs building climate- and peace-supporting businesses in lower-income countries and conflict-affected. regions. NDF provides a EUR 500,000 Booster Grant for the implementation of the CPIF Preparation Activities.
Despite contributing the least of global greenhouse gas emissions, fragile and conflict-affected countries face severe climate hazards and are among the most vulnerable to climate change impacts. This vulnerability is particularly driven by factors such as geographic location, dependence of agriculture, and limited adaptive capacity. As global security challenges persist, alongside increasing volatility and uncertainty in global markets, the impacts of climate change are placing growing pressure on livelihoods, stability, and sustainable development in many countries.
At the same time, fragile and conflict-affected countries receive less than 10% of total public and private climate finance. The financing gap remains critical, with current climate finance flows to these countries estimated at only 26% of annual financing needs.
Entrepreneurs driving resilience need more access to finance
In conflict-affected settings, entrepreneurs continue to build businesses, create jobs, and serve their communities. By investing, innovating and persevering despite extraordinary challenges, their enterprises help create livelihoods, strengthen resilience to climate change and support stability.
Supporting these entrepreneurs requires increasing their access to finance. As the initiative moves forward, a comprehensive design process will help shape this initiative into a concrete and investable strategy. Through targeted market analyses , opportunities will be identified to support sustainable economic activity, strengthen social cohesion and advance climate action. Alongside this process, a broad coalition of public and private investors will be brought together to mobilise the scale of support needed to turn this vision into impact.
"One of NDF's priorities is to ensure that climate finance reaches the communities most vulnerable to climate change, which are too often underserved by existing financing models. By supporting CPIF from an early stage and working alongside our partners, we are helping to build the foundations for a credible investment strategy that can unlock capital at scale in lower-income countries and conflict-affected contexts, where access to climate finance remains far too limited," says Isabel Leroux, Program Manager at Nordic Development Fund.