Scaling climate resilience through debt markets

Join us during London Climate Action Week for an engaging discussion on the role of debt markets in scaling climate resilience. 

Organised jointly by the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance and the Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute, this event will explore ways to address the urgent need for more investment in adaptation and resilience, focusing on emerging markets and developing economies. 

Many countries vulnerable to climate change are exposed to a vicious circle of higher credit risks, rising borrowing costs and constrained fiscal space amid high investment needs. Besides mobilising domestic resources and international capital for climate finance, lowering the cost of capital is critical in an environment of high debt levels in several countries.

For issuers with market access, bond markets play a key role in raising capital, diversifying funding sources and crowding in investors. In this context, performance-linked debt structures can help to align incentives across stakeholders. Embedding credit enhancements in financing structures has the potential to reduce the cost of capital and mobilise capital – both would help to scale investment in climate resilience.

Other mechanisms to address key challenges are climate-resilient debt clauses, local capital market development, and on-lending via multilateral development banks or other entities. Looking at the various approaches, what are the opportunities and obstacles to scale climate resilience?

Moderator: 

• Ulrich Volz, Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS

Panellists:

• Amal-Lee Amin, Managing Director and Head of Climate, Diversity and Advisory at British International Investment
• Ulf Erlandsson, CEO and Founder of the Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute
• Shakira Mustapha, Research Lead at Centre for Disaster Protection
• Pablo Perez, Sustainable Capital Markets Structurer at BNP Paribas
• Simon Zadek, Founding Partner of Morphosis

Header image credit: Giammarco Boscaro via Unsplash.