The private sector and climate change adaptation

Overall, the findings of this study highlight important questions concerning the design, implementation and operation of projects financed from public climate funds using private sector actors. In summary, the analysis suggests that the integration of private sector projects into national planning processes and strategies is crucial. Country and community ownership of the project design process is a key to achieving this, as are accountability mechanisms that allow stakeholders to have oversight, to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of resource allocation. This learning should be fed into discussions about the development of the private sector facility of the Green Climate Fund.

The paper looks closely at Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) projects implemented under the World Bank‘s private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The initial objectives of the study were, firstly, to map current PPCR projects involving private sector actors and, secondly, to assess them in relation to: (a) criticisms about their failure to take a transformative approach, and (b) three issues identified as crucial by existing analysis on the use of private sector actors to finance or deliver development projects. These three issues are: rationale/additionality; developmental and environmental integrity impact; and country and citizen ownership.