Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) explained

The World Bank-housed Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) are financing instruments designed to pilot low-carbon and climate-resilient development through the multilateral development banks (MDBs). They are comprised of two trust funds – the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF). The SCF is an overarching fund aimed at piloting new development approaches. It consists of three targeted programmes: Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), Forest Investment Program (FIP) and Scaling up Renewable Energy Program in Low Income Countries (SREP).

The CIFs operate in 48 countries worldwide. As of end June, donors had pledged $5.2 billion to the CTF and $2.4 billion to the SCF ($1.3 billion for PPCR, $639 million for FIP and $524 million for SREP). Projects are executed by multilateral development banks (MDBs): the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank’s middle income arm, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD,) and its private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Under the ‘sunset clause’ the CIFs are due to end once a new climate finance architecture is effective under the UNFCCC through a mechanism such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF).Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) website: https://www.climateinvestmentfunds.org/cif/