Climate Policy Initiative

Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) is an analysis and advisory organization with deep expertise in finance and policy. Our mission is to help governments, businesses, and financial institutions drive economic growth while addressing climate change. Our vision is to build a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive global economy.

SERVICES AND IMPACT
Our services include analysis, design and implementation of sustainable finance and development solutions, along with convening to ensure collaboration and adoption. CPI supports our partners in government, business, and finance to achieve their goals, reduce their costs, and unlock investment.

ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE
There is an urgent need to spur greater investment into climate adaptation and resilience. However, current investments in adaptation constitute only a fraction of what is needed to avoid costly and catastrophic future impacts.

To help investors and policymakers better understand needs and opportunities, and close the adaptation investment gap, CPI tracks the current state of global finance for climate adaptation, guides recommendations on how best to fill data gaps in adaptation tracking, and conducts analysis and proposes solutions aimed to mobilize private finance for adaptation and resilience.

BLENDED FINANCE
Blended finance is a key tool to help nations meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, while also addressing the risks and barriers faced by investors when pursuing the opportunities these afford.

CPI’s Blended Finance in Clean Energy report looks at what is needed to unlock investment in developing economies. Our analysis found that the greatest opportunities for blended finance impact are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South and East Asia, with a subset of eight high-impact countries alone offering USD 360 billion in clean energy investment potential by 2030.

CLIMATE LAW AND GOVERNANCE
Climate Law and Governance is a program from CPI Brazil, focusing on land use, conservation, agriculture, and infrastructure. This program is led by lawyers, with expertise in environmental law, sustainability, energy, and regulation. The Climate Law and Governance agenda conducts a juridical analysis of legal policies and instruments, monitors and evaluates its implementation, and proposes recommendations to promote the environmental agenda in Brazil.

DECARBONIZATION AND NET ZERO GOALS
An important part of CPI’s work is developing analysis and tools to ensure public and private efforts on Paris Agreement targets are feasible, of integrity, and scalable. CPI’s work in this area includes the Framework for Sustainable Finance Integrity and the Net Zero Finance Tracker.

DEVELOPMENT FINANCE
Development finance plays a significant role in financing countries’ green economic growth. CPI works with development finance institutions to assess the effectiveness of their policies, instruments, investments, and portfolios, while identifying risks and opportunities. This includes work with the International Development Finance Club (IDFC), a group of 26 national and regional development banks from all over the world, to map their green finance commitments and provide recommendations for how they can align their operations and strategies with the Paris Agreement.

ENERGY ACCESS
Access to sustainable energy underpins many aspects of a healthy, sustainable economy. However, less than one-fourth of the investment required for universal energy access is taking place. While there are proven technologies and business models that can increase access to clean, affordable, and reliable energy, financing these projects and enterprises continues to be a persistent challenge.

The Energizing Finance series, developed by Sustainable Energy for All in partnership with CPI, captures finance for the two key areas of energy access: electrification and clean cooking. The annual report focuses on public and private finance commitments in 20 developing countries that together are home to nearly 80 percent of those living without access to sustainable and modern energy.

INFRASTRUCTURE
While infrastructure is a major driver of deforestation, its financing also holds the potential to boost conservation and development. Successfully addressing economic and conservation needs depends heavily on the integration of conservation and infrastructure planning, rather than relying on the project-based, largely ineffective environmental assessment process. This also requires bringing evidence around economic and environmental impacts to the beginning of the process and frontloading environmental mitigation and compensation. Furthermore, the public must have greater access to, and understanding of, information on the environmental and economic values at stake in major infrastructure decisions.

That is why CPI’s infrastructure projects work with opening and capacitating dialogue that will promote regional planning, with the objective of potentially driving a different kind of sustainable development for governments to meet local demands. CPI, through its rigorous analysis, generates evidence on the social and environmental impacts of infrastructure development to facilitate this kind of interaction and to inform civil society of the trade-offs.

NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION
Ecosystems are a key element for the mitigation of climate change and worth trillions in the services they provide. However, regardless of their importance, their conservation and restoration have been funded almost exclusively by limited public or philanthropic funding.

CPI research assesses the conservation impact of public policy globally. We also work with private and public partners to test and design conservation models that are capable of meeting socio-economic needs while protecting and restoring natural or modified ecosystems.

RENEWABLE ENERGY
Access to renewable energy helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, particularly coal plants and diesel generators. While the renewable energy sector offers an attractive investment opportunity, there are barriers to investment.

Through our offices in India and Indonesia, we have significantly influenced government policy related to renewable energy. Our team in India works with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the Ministry of Finance, and other policymaker to increase investment to India’s renewable energy targets. We do this through a three-pillar approach: first, understand potential investors and the barriers they face; second, explore policy solutions to these barriers; and third, develop financial instrument solutions to these barriers.

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
Global population growth and improved economic conditions create increasing demand for food and agricultural raw materials. At the same time, agricultural activities are one of the most significant sources of carbon emissions and water use, and climate change is set to have severe impacts on food production and nutrition across the globe.

CPI research identifies pathways to implement more productive and climate-resilient agricultural practices that incorporate low emission standards and sustainable agriculture techniques. The research, analysis, and business models we develop support the scaling of sustainable agriculture practices worldwide.

We promote partnerships with public and private entities to develop financial mechanisms to fund the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices as well as work directly with policymakers in the design of more effective policies to spur sustainable growth in the agricultural sector.

SUSTAINABLE CITIES
As the world increasingly urbanizes, cities must be at the forefront of global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and climate change risks. Cities not only account for 70% of global CO2 emissions from energy use, they are also at the forefront of climate change vulnerability, with a majority already experiencing harmful impacts to their citizens and infrastructure as a result of extreme weather events. To address this, trillions of dollars in finance for climate action in cities is needed – highlighting a significant investment gap in urban climate solutions.

CPI is Secretariat for the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (CCFLA), the only multi- level and multi-stakeholder coalition aimed at closing the investment gap for urban subnational climate projects and infrastructure worldwide. CCFLA provides a platform to convene and exchange knowledge among all relevant actors dedicated to urban climate action. It also publishes research encompassing key topics including the state of cities climate finance, scaling finance for zero carbon buildings, and urban adaptation finance.

FUNDERS
CPI is an independent, not-for-profit organization and has been supported by a diverse range of funders from around the world, including those featured below. CPI is not a grant-making foundation.

PARTNERS
CPI works with a diverse range of public and private sector partners from developed and emerging economies.

WORK AT CPI
CPI’s world-class team of analysts and advisors come from a range of disciplines and are familiar with the policy environments in the regions where they work, enabling them to provide timely and relevant insights on policy, investment, and business models.

SUSTAINABILITY
CPI seeks to reduce the environmental impact of its own operations worldwide.

CPI encourages all employees to utilize mass transit when commuting to and from work and makes a conscious effort to track and reduce carbon emissions that result from our travel. We take measures to ensure sustainable printing practices, recycling, and minimal energy usage in all of our offices. Wherever we can, we offer retirement investment options that are sustainable and socially responsible.

OUR HISTORY

CPI was founded in 2009 to support nations building low-carbon economies to develop and implement effective climate, energy, and land use policies.

Professor Thomas C. Heller, a veteran of climate mitigation efforts and negotiations, had paid close attention over the previous decades to the needs of policymakers and the private sector. His vision was to create an independent, objective organization that would conduct world-class analysis to help policy makers make the best decisions for low-carbon growth.
He launched CPI with the support of financier and philanthropist George Soros, starting with a U.S. office and followed by offices and programs in Europe, China, Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Kenya.

Today, CPI is recognized as a leading source of analysis and solutions for climate action and green growth. We work with and are funded by a variety of public and private sector organizations. CPI has more than 100 analysts and staff working to answer decision makers’ most pressing questions.

CONTACT CPI:

575 Market St, Ste 514
San Francisco, CA 94105-2854
Phone: 628-201-9226
Email: adminsf@cpiglobal.org