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Text: David J. Cord

How do you think we could improve collaboration in the Nordic countries to fight climate change?

“Collaboration begins with a shared understanding. We have so many different stakeholders with different ideas and goals. We must begin with a shared understanding of our goals.”

Natalie Mangondo, Sustainable Finance for Nature Lead, GRID-Arendal

“One aspect I focus on in my work is improving collaboration among all levels of Nordic businesses, from startups to scaleups to large corporations. We can collaborate on many aspects, such as deep tech cleantech. We can pool our resources for talent and capital attraction. We should also take advantage of EU institutions. Most Nordic countries are already members of the European Union, and by leveraging these platforms we can also attract other European countries and organisations in climate finance projects.”

Peter Munch-Madsen, Senior Innovation Advisor, Nordic Innovation

“We need more action and less talk. I work with the Energy and Environment Partnership Trust Fund (EEP Africa), and we have a great team on the ground working to implement important solutions. This is a great example of how we can join forces and act meaningfully.”

Kelly Keodara, Fund Communications Officer, EEP Africa

“In the research community, people work together conducting basic research all the way to commercialising innovations. We can take inspiration from these networks, because at the core of development is innovation.”

Petter Støa, Vice President Research, SINTEF

“I work in an ecosystem with 2,000 members so I think about improving collaboration a lot! I believe the members should have a concrete, measurable goal. We can’t just say ‘our goal is to increase funding’; we need concrete numbers. I work with the private sector, who can learn a lot from development finance organisations who are experts at measuring impact. Then we must communicate our progress and celebrate successes. We must also have fun, like at this Nordic Climate Dialogues event.”

Alina Sippolainen, Blue Economy & Ecosystem Advisor, A’Pelago

Text: David J. Cord

What do you think we should do to better mobilise climate finance?

“I encourage the Nordic countries to focus on three key areas. One, the reform of the global financial system. Africa can’t build resilience while shackled with unsustainable debt. Two, Nordic institutions should strengthen partnerships in Africa in science and data intelligence. Only 3% of global climate research takes place in Africa. Three, the Nordic countries should partner with Africa in pioneering innovation, such as renewable energy, sustainable cities, and the circular economy in an African context. We need a coherent pathway for a just, sustainable transition.”

Claver Gatete, Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

“Public funding is not enough. Countries are cutting their budgets. We must mobilise private capital and innovative financing instruments such as resilience bonds and debt for climate solutions, for example. Also, we must develop a coherent, comprehensive ecosystem for different types of financing on a country level. Finally, we can’t forget grant-based financing. Some communities depend on these because they can’t even take out loans.”

Mikko Ollikainen, Head of the Adaptation Fund

“We need to accelerate and activate domestic investors in developing countries. Developing countries often face significant currency risk in their local currencies. It is great to provide funding from the Nordic countries, but this is adding a currency risk.”

Catherine Cax, MD, Investments at Soros Economic Development Fund

“We need to protect those grants for projects which are for the public good. We must subsidise those projects that have a good business model. Finally, we must develop regulations to drive demand for the remaining projects. For example, the International Maritime Organization has already helped reduce sulphur emissions and is now driving binding regulations to decarbonise the shipping industry. This could be replicated in other hard-to-abate industries.”

Theodore Talbot, Maersk McKinney Center for Zero Carbon Shipping

“Development finance should not be merely as a lender and investor, but as a local market builder. This includes developing institutional investor capacity in developing regions. They need appropriate financial instruments which offer acceptable risk. Also, we need to develop market infrastructure, which can be seen as the plumbing of the financial system. This includes regulatory frameworks and markets to allow an efficient capital allocation.”

Magnus Billing, Senior Advisor, Centre for Development Finance Studies

Text: David J. Cord

Nordic Climate Dialogues 2025 aims to strengthen how Nordic countries work together in climate finance. Many experts at the event stressed that “climate finance” was more than just funding. It also includes building a solid foundation for sustainable development.

Anders Adlercreutz, Finland’s Minister for Nordic Cooperation, delivered his thoughts virtually to the participants. He praises some examples of Nordic cooperation such as the Energy and Environment Partnership Africa, which enhances clean energy access in Africa, and the Systematic Observations Financing Facility, which improves weather forecasting for developing countries and island states.

“But we must go further,” Adlercreutz says. “The Nordic region has many strengths to build on: strong democratic institutions; a deep commitment to invest in education, innovation and green technologies; and our transparent and accountable governance and low hierarchies, which reduce bottlenecks and foster agility and collaboration.”

Jesper Hilsted Andersen, Chief Counsellor for Development Finance, Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also believes that the Nordic countries already have a good foundation of collaboration, driven in part by common objectives.

“We have always collaborated in the Nordic countries, and now, looking at current  geopolitical changes it is more important than ever,” he says. “I think the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) is a great example of a platform for cooperation. It isn’t just a financing institution.”

“The NDF has a pragmatic approach to collaboration,” confirms Malena Rosman, Director, Portfolio Origination & Management at NDF. “If we aren’t appropriate for a specific idea, we will suggest other partners. The Nordic countries have great knowledge in many different sectors. NDF can act as a bridge between partners.”

SOLAR POWER AND WEATHER FORECASTING CONCRETE SUCCESSES

“Guarantees can help private sector actors to invest in projects,” says Felix Adahi Bikpo, Chair of the Board, African Guarantee Fund. “One example is our Green Guarantee Facility collaboration with the NDF. In Madagascar there was a company who searched for financing for over six years. We offered guarantees and assisted banks to understand sustainability projects and the risks of climate change. Now thanks to these guarantees Madagascar has a new 20 MW solar power plant.”

Another practical example is weather observation and forecasting. The United Nations has stressed that one solution which has the highest impact for developing regions is early warning systems for weather events. NDF was also the anchor donor for Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF), which aims to mobilise more resources for weather and climate data. More information about the results of SOFF can be found from NDF’s latest Results Report.

“This is one of our niche strengths,” explains Petteri Taalas, Director General at Finnish Meteorological Institute. “The NDF was the first donor to our project to improve observing systems in places such as Africa and island states.”

Text: David J. Cord

The United Nations has estimated developing nations face a USD 4.3 trillion financing gap for sustainable development, including a USD 1.8 trillion gap for climate needs. To bridge this gap the private sector must be included in climate finance projects.

As Hans Olav Ibrekk, Special Envoy for Climate and Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway explains, only 6% of adaptation financing is coming from the private sector, and much of this is philanthropic.

“Private sector involvement in sustainable finance is essential but faces several systemic barriers, including regulatory uncertainty, perceived risk and lack of bankable projects, and high upfront costs and long payback periods,” explains Catherine Cax, MD, Investments at Soros Economic Development Fund.

Nordic Climate Dialogues 2025 aims to help address these challenges. Many of the participating experts have shared their experience in mobilising private capital.

“We believe these barriers can be addressed through blended finance platforms that de-risk early-stage investments and catalyse private capital,” Cax says. “Our work with Allied Climate Partners exemplifies this approach—by anchoring regional funds with first-loss junior equity, we help unlock senior equity from MDBs, DFIs and private investors.”

Some climate finance projects do not generate revenue, like a seawall to protect against rising sea levels and more extreme weather events. Robin Ivory, Manager of Market Insights at Convergence, says that private investors are more interested in opportunities to make profit, such as the USD 2.4 billion Brookfield Catalytic Transition Fund, which is aimed at clean energy and transition assets in emerging markets.

“Blended finance is becoming more common, and we are seeing increased standardisation and replicability in the industry,” Ivory says. “In the past, each big project used to be bespoke. Now mainstream investors are involved, and they don’t want to reinvent the process each time. Some of these funds have complicated structures, so it improves efficiency if they can be replicated in different sectors.”

Jesper Hilsted Andersen, Chief Counsellor for Development Finance, Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, works with the Investment Mobilisation Collaboration Alliance. He cites a case where Sweden and Denmark offered guarantees to an investment fund. This de-risking attracted private investors.

COMPANIES CAN OFFER MORE THAN FINANCING

Yet the private sector can be engaged in more ways than providing funding. Private companies can offer talent and expertise which can be useful for climate change and adaptation programmes.

“One example is our work with the Swedish engineering and consulting company Ramboll and their foundation,” says Ulrika Modéer, Secretary General, Swedish Red Cross. “We co-created nature-based solutions in collaboration with Ramboll’s technical teams. Bankable projects like this can also attract other financiers. This is a win-win way of working.”