As finance leaders gather for the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings in Washington D.C., attention is turning to the global goal of mobilizing at least $1.3 trillion per year in climate finance for developing countries by 2035. The new target was adopted by governments at COP29 as part of the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG). In response, the so-called Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T is being shaped to identify how that finance can be scaled and directed to where it’s needed most.

Since COP 29, support for the Roadmap is growing across the economy, with momentum from investors, businesses, and city and subnational leaders. Most recently, 90 non-State actors – from institutional investors and commercial banks to city governments, development organisations and civil society – have submitted over 72 ideas and partnership proposals to help shape the Roadmap and accelerate its implementation.

The submissions show there is no shortage of leadership or ideas – and make clear that turning them into action will depend on having the right frameworks and support in place.

UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP29, Nigar Arpadarai, will meet with partners and finance leaders in Washington to highlight the offers of support and practical solutions, including from the Marrakech Partnership, and to understand where support is most urgently needed next. The Roadmap offers a chance to build confidence amongst real-economy leaders.

"From Baku to Belém, we are seeing real-economy leaders step up with solutions for fair finance. The Spring Meetings are a chance to build the confidence, coordination, and capital needed to deliver climate finance to those that need it most. This is how we shift from pledges to progress." said UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP29, Nigar Arpadarai.

“Climate finance is critical to turning the economic opportunity of ambitious climate action into tangible economic opportunity for businesses, local governments and communities. COP 30 is a chance to achieve a step change for inclusive growth  — creating value for a greener and more resilient future through innovation, cleaner, cheaper energy, and resilient supply chains." said UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP30, Dan Ioschpe.

A growing coalition backing climate finance scale-up

Those stepping up to offer their partnership, solutions, and recommendations include the Marrakech Partnership Finance Group, led by the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change and CDP, major investor alliances such as the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance driven by UNEP Finance Initiative and the Principles for Responsible Investment, leading city and subnational networks including Under2 Coalition, C40 and the Global Covenant of Mayors, civil society groups, banks, businesses, and national industry associations. A full repository of submissions is available here. 

These non-State actor submissions consistently emphasize the need for:

• Practical finance instruments that can be deployed quickly

• National climate, adaptation, and nature plans that attract investment from all sources to accelerate implementation of global climate goals

• Reducing cost of capital for clean energy in developing countries

• Reform of multilateral finance architecture to improve access and affordability of finance

• Scalable pipelines of investable projects for sectors, cities, regions and local communities

• Direct access to funding for marginalised groups, including women, Indigenous Peoples and slum dwellers

• Support for SMEs and local financial intermediaries

Many contributors, who are actively working on supporting these solutions, see the Roadmap as a vehicle to bring these tools together in a coherent, actionable framework that reflects the needs of the real economy and all areas of society.

Five emerging focus areas from this growing coalition of non-State actors

1. Nature-positive investment
   Submissions call for finance to support forest conservation, restoration, deforestation-free supply chains and regenerative agriculture. Recommendations include scaling up debt-for-nature swaps, Article 6-linked carbon markets, and sustainability-linked sovereign instruments, alongside better alignment of national climate and biodiversity policies.

2. Adaptation and resilience
   Several submissions point to the potential of resilience bonds, insurance tools, blended finance and public-private partnerships to help de-risk adaptation investment. There is a clear ask for more predictable, long-term funding and stronger backing for national and local adaptation plans.

3. Reducing the cost of capital
   To meet clean energy goals, many submissions stress the need to lower the cost of capital in emerging markets. Proposals include wider use of guarantees, concessional finance, insurance and measures to address currency risk and debt burdens – alongside better data on project pipelines, credit ratings and investment risks.

4. Financing sector transition, cities and subnational actors
   Submissions highlight opportunities for investment in sectors like energy, water, waste, public transport and green buildings. There is strong support for empowering subnational banks, tracking local finance flows, and making sure local priorities are reflected in national plans.

5. Supporting SMEs and community-level finance
   Contributors call for simpler green loan products, better links between SMEs and large supply chains, and more support for local finance institutions. Many also highlight the need for direct access to finance for women, informal workers and other marginalized groups.

What comes next?

The Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T is an opportunity to move from pledges to delivery – and there is growing support across all levels of society for a practicable, actionable pathway to get finance to where it’s needed most. Many non-State actors are taking action to do just that, working across all solutions areas identified in their submissions, and they know that more is needed. The Spring Meetings present an important opportunity for governments and actors across the economy and society to discuss these ideas, share insights from the work they are already doing to increase finance flows, and reflect on how successes can be replicated and scaled to further support climate solutions and sustainable development on the road to COP30 in Brazil.