Multilateral Development Banks Hit Record $137 Billion in Climate Finance, Driving Sustainable Growth Worldwide

Monday, 7th September 2025

Por inAfrika Reporter

Multilateral development banks delivered a record $137 billion in climate finance in 2024, a ten percent rise from the previous year that underscores their expanding role in global sustainable development. According to the 2024 Joint Report on Multilateral Development Banks’ Climate Finance, coordinated by the European Investment Bank with contributions from the African Development Bank Group and other institutions, the majority of these resources were directed to low- and middle-income economies, where the need for adaptation and mitigation remains urgent.

The report further shows that MDBs mobilized $134 billion in private sector finance for climate action, a thirty-three percent increase compared to 2023. This sharp growth illustrates the deepening alignment between public investment and private capital in driving climate solutions at scale. It comes at a crucial time as the international community prepares for COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where scaling climate finance will be at the heart of negotiations. At COP29 in Baku last year, countries committed to mobilize at least $1.3 trillion annually by 2035 from both public and private sources for developing countries, and the new data will directly inform the debates in Brazil.

For Africa, the implications are profound. Anthony Nyong, the African Development Bank’s Director for Climate Change and Green Growth, highlighted that the continent is accelerating its actions to unlock green potential in energy, nature-based solutions, innovation and workforce participation. He stressed that climate adaptation lies at the center of the African Development Bank’s work, with more than half of its climate finance devoted to resilience-building initiatives that protect livelihoods and secure a sustainable future while simultaneously investing in greener pathways for growth. This dual focus reflects Africa’s reality, where climate change is both a threat multiplier and a catalyst for innovation.

The report notes that financing for low- and middle-income economies climbed to $85.1 billion in 2024, a fourteen percent increase from the year before, with mitigation and adaptation efforts continuing to expand. Over the past five years, climate finance to these economies has more than doubled, a sign of the international system’s recognition that the fight against climate change must prioritize those most at risk. High-income economies, by contrast, received $51.5 billion, with the majority of support channeled to mitigation rather than adaptation, but their stronger financial ecosystems allowed them to mobilize more than $100 billion in private investment.

The 2024 Multilateral Development Bank Climate Finance Report was prepared by the European Investment Bank with the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and in collaboration with the African Development Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Council of Europe Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the New Development Bank and the World Bank Group. Collectively, these institutions are taking steps to expand not only the volume of climate finance but also the transparency of their operations, with new digitalization initiatives designed to make climate finance data more accessible and user-friendly for governments, investors and the wider public.

By hitting this new record, MDBs have reaffirmed that climate action is not only a matter of reducing carbon emissions but also of driving jobs, innovation and sustainable growth. The results show a global system increasingly geared toward meeting the Paris Agreement’s targets, and a continent like Africa positioning itself as both a beneficiary and a leader in shaping the future of climate finance.