Capital Musings

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference—or COP25—by issuing the warning that “the point of no-return is no longer over the horizon.” This follows the release of the UN Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap report, which stated that we are on the brink of missing the opportunity to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

But do these circumstances mean that the international community will recognize the critical role of local governments to advance appropriate climate action? Will there be a more concerted effort to finance such climate action in the world’s least developed countries, which will feel the worst effects of climate change. And will this signal rising support for adaptation measures in relation to mitigation?

David Jackson, Director of the Local Development Finance Practice of UNCDF who oversees our local climate adaptation programme (LoCAL), shares his thoughts on all of these questions, as well as what we can reasonably expect from this year’s COP25. We sat down with David just days before COP25.

Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund and UN Web TV.

Producers: Victoria Guridi, Fernando Zarauz, Carlos Macias

If you were asked "what is the difference between women's economic empowerment and women's economic development," would you know the answer?

Women's economic empowerment has been an essential driver of the economic development agenda; uniting individual nations, multilateral organizations, NGOs and impact investors. But what does successful women's economic empowerment truly mean, particularly in the world's least developed countries? How can success be achieved when cultural challenges are pervasive and profound? And what are the prospects of achieving women's economic empowerment in the LDCs when we are so far behind in achieving the SDGs?

Samina Anwar, Programme Manager for the Inclusive and Equitable Local Development programme--a joint programme of UN Women, UNDP and UNCDF--offers her insights on the future of women's economic empowerment in the LDCs and beyond. She also answers this question: if we do not achieve SDG5 (Gender Equality) by 2030, what would have been the reason?

Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund and UN Web TV.

Producers: Victoria Guridi, Carlos Macias, Fernando Zarauz

The city of Los Angeles, with a population of roughly 4 million people, can issue a bond to fund infrastructure construction. Yet, the city of Nairobi—the capital city of Kenya with a population of roughly 3.5 million people—is effectively, if not actually, unable to do the same. Despite the global trend of urbanization, cities and local governments in developing countries experience tremendous difficulty accessing capital in international markets. If this persists, then sustainable development will ultimately skip over the cities, countries and markets where it is needed the most. On episode 3 of Capital Musings, we talk with Jaffer Machano, Global Programme Manager for UNCDF’s Municipal Investment Finance programme, about the challenges municipalities in developing countries face in accessing capital, and UNCDF’s vision for addressing this challenge.

Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund and UN Web TV.

Producers: Victoria Guridi, Fernando Zarauz, Carlos Macias

Blended finance is seen as a tool that can unlock investment capital for projects in the world’s most challenging markets, notably in the least developed countries. So why is only 6% of blended finance, in the form of private capital mobilized by official development assistance, reaching these markets? That is the finding of a report recently released by UNCDF and the OECD. On Episode 2 of Capital Musings, Samuel Choritz, one of the lead authors of the report, explains why this is happening, as well as what is needed from a policy, regulatory and market standpoint to reverse the trend.

Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund and UN Web TV.

Producers: Victoria Guridi, Fernando Zarauz, Carlos Macias

In this episode, David Mikhail talks with Krishnan Narasimhan, Programme Manager at UNCDF, about parametric insurance. Krishnan explains how UNCDF employs a market development strategy to inspire private companies to offer cutting-edge insurance innovations to emerging markets in the Pacific.

Krishnan describes how the first parametric insurance product in the Pacific was introduced by UNCDF following extensive consultation with local partners and stakeholders. He talks about how, over the past few years, UNCDF has been working to develop digital delivery models, offering technical advisory services and blended financing to de-risk capital through grants, loans, and guarantees. This has allowed the organisation to contribute to the growth of ecosystems that can stimulate underdeveloped markets in providing climate insurance solutions to their constituents.

Websites: https://www.uncdf.org

Hashtags: #CapitalMusings | #COP27

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Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund, with the support of the UN Web TV.