Climate and Development Finance in a Fast-Changing World

Finance is a critical enabler of climate action, yet the global climate finance system remains insufficient, inefficient, and inequitable. Despite accelerating climate risks and a narrowing window for action, financial flows fall far short of what is required – particularly for developing countries that contributed least to the crisis but face its most severe impacts.

This lecture is delivered by Mahmoud Mohieldin, the editor of Policy-Driven Climate and Development Finance: Strategies for Equitable Solutions, and draws directly on the book’s analysis to examine why current climate finance arrangements are failing and how they can be reformed. The lecture explores the widening gap between climate finance needs and actual flows, the policy and institutional barriers that limit access to finance, and the persistent imbalance between mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage funding.

Drawing on policy experience and real-world case studies, the lecture introduces practical financial instruments and reform pathways needed to mobilize capital at scale while advancing equity, justice, and sustainable development.

Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin is a global economist and the UN Special Envoy on Financing Sustainable Development, with over 30 years of experience in international finance and development. He co-leads the UN Secretary General expert group on debt solutions. Formerly Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund, Senior Vice President and Managing Director at the World Bank Group, he was Egypt’s first Minister of Investment. He also served as the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP27. He chairs and serves at key international and regional advisory boards, co-chairs the WEF Global Future Council on the Business of Economic Growth. He is a Professor of Economics and Finance, Cairo University; a Visiting Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University; a Fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Science; and Nonresident Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution.

Speaker

• Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Special Envoy on Financing Sustainable Development

The event is organised by the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance.

Header image credit: A Chosen Soul via Unsplash.