2024 Inspiration Hub 

According to the Climate Policy Initiative’s 2023 report on the Global Landscape of Climate Finance, the average annual climate finance flows for 2021/2022 reached $1.3 trillion, their highest level yet. However, the annual climate finance flows needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change are estimated to be $10 trillion. A major reason for this shortfall is the lack of profitability and bankability of climate adaptation and mitigation solutions. The CIC is providing a platform to do just that.  

At the moment, 91% of global climate finance is routed to mitigation efforts. Within mitigation projects, energy and transport are the dominant investment areas. The below infographic by the Climate Policy Initiative shows the current climate finance flows towards various mitigation sectors, the needed flows, and the mitigation potential. This is a useful illustration to understand which sectors are currently underdeveloped in terms of solutions and financing. 

 

 

Looking at the annual adaptation flows, the following infographic by the Climate Policy Initiative again shows an increase in the annual finance flows but the total still falls short of the expected adaptation finance needs in the near future. 

 

 

 

Below, we share some themes as guidelines that can help get your thinking started on the mitigation and adaptation areas that require solutions and that need financing for those solutions:

Note: Applicants can choose to focus their application on any climate issue. They do not need to choose one of the below themes. These themes are solely to provide inspiration for those who do not currently have an idea. Applications that focus on any of the themes below will not be viewed more favourably.

Main Competition Prize

  1. Built Environment is responsible for about 42% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Decarbonizing our cities is an urgent imperative. How can we finance less carbon-intensive ways of producing cement, concrete, and other materials to construct buildings? What technological solutions can help us reduce the carbon footprint of our urban areas? Are there any technologies that would enable insurance companies to insure buildings in climate-risk areas, such as coastal cities?

  2. Energy Capacity Constraints from national grid networks are hampering private investment into renewable energy. What role can finance play in modernising national grid networks to facilitate green energy investment?

  3. Decarbonatization of Hard to Abate Sectors: How might finance help to develop solutions in alternative fuels, testing, or finding sources of carbon to develop synthetic fuels, for example. This is key to global decarbonization, where the majority of emissions are going to remain, once other emission sources have been reduced.

  4. Domestic energy saving: How can we accelerate investment into more sustainable domestic energy and storage solutions? What long-term financial planning tools can be shaped to encourage consumers to take a more long term investment in property modernizations and retrofits?  

Emerging and Developing Markets Prize

  1. Water Scarcity is a critical problem facing several regions in the developing world. How can finance help to promote water conservation projects and water stress management to improve water security for rural/urban communities?

  2. Waste Management is a dire problem in many emerging and developing markets. Waste primarily generates methane, which is a highly potent GHG. What role can finance play in landfill management, recycling, and energy recovery from the methane emissions? Moreover, how can upcycling and circular economies be made financially viable?

  3. Agriculture is intimately tied to climate change, especially in climate vulnerable emerging and developing markets. How can agriculture be financed in ways that it can feed the world or the specific region, adapt to climate change and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions?

Data Analytics Prize

  1. Physical climate risk integration:

    i. Quantifying physical risks for companies based on climate and environmental scientific datasets.

    ii. Informing company or sector specific adaptation strategies based on climate and environmental scientific datasets.

  2. Climate transition risk integration:

    i. Quantifying climate transition risk for companies at the physical asset level based on climate, environmental or socio-economic scientific datasets.

    ii. Quantifying socio-economic implications (e.g. job losses) at the company or issuer level under different transition scenarios.

  3. Innovative financial products:

    i. Designing new financial instruments based on novel, third party datasets (e.g. geospatial data, real-time weather data) for transparent risk/impact monitoring, reporting and verification. For instance data driven adaptation bonds, sustainability-linked loans, parametric insurance, etc.