PRINDCISSA

Following the adoption of the Paris Agreement (PA) at COP 21 in December 2015, all countries are to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). These NDCs can be seen as holistic and coherent national plans for mitigation and adaptation It is expected that most of the USD 100 billion per year of climate finance would be used to implement NDCs. Hence, it is paramount to understand how private climate finance can be best incentivised to make a significant contribution to NDC implementation. In addition, it is crucial to improve the understanding the results of climate finance supported activities in terms of their mitigation and adaptation impacts.

This project will operate through three work-packages, comprising: (Work Package 1) an in-depth study of practical experience with mobilising private climate finance for mitigation in Sub-Saharan Africa through market mechanisms and climate finance mechanisms; (Work Package 2) and an in-depth study of practical experience with mobilising private climate finance for adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa through adaptation finance mechanisms and; (Work Package 3) a synthesis that brings together the results of the first two work packages and facilitates dialogue between policy-makers, private sector actors, and other practitioners.

This approach will contribute to knowledge by providing insights from real experiences in Sub-Saharan Africa. It will offer timely, practical and policy-relevant knowledge products (research articles, policy briefs, submissions to the UNFCCC process) and recommendations for engaging the private sector in NDC implementation. It will further identify capacity-building needs of the African public and private sectors to mobilise mitigation and adaptation activities with strong private sector involvement, as well as recommend approaches to efficiently provide support for such capacity building.

The project will bring together a strong consortium consisting of SEI, Perspectives Climate Research (PCR) gGmbH and SouthSouthNorth (SSN). Together, these institutes combine research competence with leading in-depth practical expertise on the role of the private sector in both mitigation and adaptation finance, and in-country presence in developing countries. The interdisciplinary team has strong research and analytical competences covering the fields of political science, economics, international relations, law and development studies with particular relevance to international climate and energy policy. The research project will combine quantitative studies of climate finance mechanisms with in-depth analyses of selected case studies in order to deliver timely and policy-relevant research. The internationally recognised researchers are crucial to develop an understanding how private sector contributions to international climate finance can effectively be mobilised.