Financial Services to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Risks

Financial services are an indispensable tool to help vulnerable low-income people prepare for climate-related shocks and recover from them when they happen.

About Our Work

Just as the pandemic’s effects have been most severe for those who were already the most vulnerable, so too are the effects of climate change. Low- and moderate-income countries (LMICs) are likely to experience more extreme weather, which in turn will increase the risk of income loss, food insecurity, adverse health effects, and displacement amongst low-income populations.

CFI recognizes that climate change is ultimately an issue requiring the reinvention of entrenched systems of production and consumption, and for many, this will require adaptation to more sustainable livelihoods. A s the world works to understand the impacts and adapt to new realities, financial services are an indispensable tool to help vulnerable low-income people prepare for climate-related shocks and recover from them when they happen. Our work in this theme will focus on understanding the role of financial services in mitigating the effects of climate change, both in the short run to respond to shocks and the long run as people adapt their lives and livelihoods to the changing climate. CFI will work to understand what financial tools people need and the constraints they face, uncover product innovations that can help, and then pilot test such innovations and share what we have learned.

Watch "Green Inclusive Finance"

Watch

A Financial Inclusion Week conversation focused on demand, supply, and policy issues as they relate to climate change and low-income households. A moderated conversation followed, during which the speakers and host discussed how these topics intersect, and how their intersections can be helpful starting points for solving problems for low-income households. [With Calum Scott, Global Impact Director, Opportunity International Australia; Dileimy Orozco, Senior Policy Advisor, E3G; Michael Hamp, Lead Technical Specialist for Rural Finance, IFAD]

Listen

CFI's Eric Noggle interviews a leading expert on climate change -- Sarah Gammage of The Nature Conservancy -- to discuss climate change trends, their disproportionate impact on emerging markets, and how these impacts are manifesting themselves. This interview includes a conversation about systems change: what it is, why it is important, and what it means for how we should think about mitigation in low-income communities.

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