News • September 10, 2025

Focus on the initiative Unlocking Capital with Finance Expertise Hubs

Focus on the initiative Unlocking Capital with Finance Expertise Hubs

Expertises

Developing and emerging countries

As a pioneering think tank focused on mobilising private capital for the transition, the Sustainable Finance Observatory contributes to the global agenda of moving "from billions to trillions". Achieving the Paris Agreement and SDGs requires 70-90% of financing to come from the private sector. Emerging and developing countries represent up to 60% of global climate investment needs, yet face systemic barriers to capital access. We address these challenges through financial engineering. Building on the specialised expertise of former bankers and lawyers in our team, we develop bankability models and use financial structuring to improve the risk-return profile of projects and unlock private capital at scale.

Advocacy and coalitions

The Sustainable Finance Observatory is actively engaged in advocacy efforts to unlock private capital for the transition, both in international debates and in dialogue with European institutions. We provide in-depth regulatory and policy analysis, along with concrete recommendations on how to strengthen sustainable finance frameworks and develop effective financial solutions.

This publication is part of the following programs: Unlocking Capital with Finance Expertise Hubs

Expertises

Developing and emerging countries

As a pioneering think tank focused on mobilising private capital for the transition, the Sustainable Finance Observatory contributes to the global agenda of moving "from billions to trillions". Achieving the Paris Agreement and SDGs requires 70-90% of financing to come from the private sector. Emerging and developing countries represent up to 60% of global climate investment needs, yet face systemic barriers to capital access. We address these challenges through financial engineering. Building on the specialised expertise of former bankers and lawyers in our team, we develop bankability models and use financial structuring to improve the risk-return profile of projects and unlock private capital at scale.

Advocacy and coalitions

The Sustainable Finance Observatory is actively engaged in advocacy efforts to unlock private capital for the transition, both in international debates and in dialogue with European institutions. We provide in-depth regulatory and policy analysis, along with concrete recommendations on how to strengthen sustainable finance frameworks and develop effective financial solutions.

Contact

Emilie Maehara

Deputy Executive Director - The Sustainable Finance Observatory

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News • September 10, 2025

Focus on the initiative Unlocking Capital with Finance Expertise Hubs

This publication is part of the following programs: Unlocking Capital with Finance Expertise Hubs

Mobilising Private Finance for Development – A Practical Agenda for FfD4

At the Fourth United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), the Sustainable Finance Observatory launched the initiative Unlocking Capital with Finance Expertise Hubs.

Co-authored with Dr. Barbara Samuels, Executive Director of the Global Clearinghouse for Development Finance, the report responds to a simple reality: 70–90% of the financing required to achieve the SDGs and global climate goals must come from private capital.

The initiative supports the development of country-based Finance Expertise Hubs, providing highly specialised financial expertise to scale up bankable project pipelines and unlock greater access to private finance from both domestic and international sources. It presents a scalable and immediately deployable solution to help close the SDG and climate finance gap in low- and middle-income countries.

The initiative has been selected as part of the Sevilla Platform for Action, alongside 130 high-impact global initiatives.

We are currently collaborating with UN Environment Program (UNEP), the Global Clearinghouse for Development Finance and several countries to deploy such hubs.

Credits : Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, President of the Government of Spain, addresses the launch of the Sevilla Platform for Action during the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4).