With climate change wreaking havoc around the globe, more investment in climate solutions is urgently needed. That was the motivation behind the Climate Finance Fund, set up in 2021 by Marilyn Waite to push for systemic change in the financial system so that it works for people and planet. Its new mission is to divert funds to the global south, where much climate innovation takes place.
As part of our summer break, the impact.info team invites you to (re)discover one of our episodes.
You can also find our article on the topic right here .
Enjoy listening!
Killian Flagey
impact.info director
Published on 13 August 2026
Photo credit — Managing Director of The Climate Finance Fund
Transcript Audio in English· AI-generated transcript
0:00 Hello and welcome to the podcast showcasing entrepreneurs who are changing the world. 0:12 With climate change wreaking havoc around the globe, more investment in climate solutions 0:17 is urgently needed. 0:19 That was the motivation behind the Climate Finance Fund, set up in 2021 to push for systemic 0:26 change in the financial system so that it works for people and planet. 0:31 Its new mission is to divert funds to the global south, where much climate innovation 0:36 takes place. 0:37 Hi, I'm Marilyn Waite and I lead the Climate Finance Fund. 0:43 So climate is literally a burning issue and generally speaking, capitalism tends to get 0:48 touted as the enemy of ecology. 0:50 How do you make instruments like the stock market work in favor of climate solutions? 0:58 That's a great question. 0:59 So the stock market, on one hand, is just a place where people, individuals, retail investors, 1:06 as they're called, or institutions buy and sell shares in a company. 1:12 However, it plays a larger role in the wider ecosystem of positive impact for people and 1:18 planet. 1:19 And that is in order to back some of the most innovative and impactful ideas that are at 1:27 the early stage, we actually need the existence of the stock market to attract investors because 1:33 those early stage investors will only come in if they can get a so-called exit. 1:39 And what we mean by exit in the investment world is some kind of liquidation event so 1:44 that they can get their money back with a return. 1:48 And the stock market provides one of those opportunities. 1:52 So it plays a macro role in enabling climate innovation. 1:57 As the Climate Finance Fund, what exactly are you doing right now? 2:04 So we are behind the scenes. 2:06 We are funding opportunities for systemic change in the financial system. 2:12 So we want to make sure that the market rules by default work for people and planet. 2:17 They currently don't. 2:18 The inertia of the system is that it does not properly and adequately price in all of 2:25 those negative externalities of fossil fuels and polluting agriculture, for example. 2:33 And so we want to change the rules of the game and that's a systemic change work. 2:36 So we fund entities, research, et cetera, that will support those systemic changes. 2:42 And then we also participate in the market directly. 2:45 So we want to prove to the market that something that is perceived by investors as not feasible 2:51 for climate action actually is. 2:53 And we do all of this with the lens of JEDI, J-E-D-I, which stands for justice, equity, 3:00 diversity, and inclusion. 3:02 So no matter where we're focusing in the world, we have this lens as a way of ensuring that 3:08 we're not only reducing greenhouse gas emissions with our financing and funding work, but we 3:13 are also making sure those emissions reductions align with social justice. 3:18 I understand that the Climate Finance Fund sees an urgent need to try to direct investment 3:26 more towards the global south. 3:28 Can you explain why? 3:30 Yes. So historically, we focused on capital domiciled in more higher income countries 3:36 and one middle income countries, that is China. 3:38 So we focused on the European Union, on the United States, and then China. 3:43 Well, what we've noticed is that when you're agnostic towards where the capital flows, 3:47 the capital just tends to stay where the wealth already is concentrated. 3:51 And so we realized we needed to build an intentionality to get the money to flow. 3:56 Now, depending on whose analysis you use, between 3 to 15 percent of climate capital 4:03 crosses the border into lower middle income countries known as the global south. 4:08 So it's a real challenge because actually the global south is where the majority of 4:13 the emissions growth is, the economic growth. 4:16 And so that's actually where most of the action in terms of greenhouse gas mitigation 4:21 is needed. It's also where it tends to be the largest impacts of climate change and 4:26 therefore the need to build in the nexus of resiliency is very, very important. 4:31 And I understand this is what you've been talking about recently at the Global Finance 4:35 Forum in Jamaica. 4:37 Yes. So we have backed the creation of a forum and a convening space called the Global 4:43 Climate Finance Forum. 4:45 And we chose to back that in Jamaica because that is a country where the global 4:50 majority, another word for the global south, can actually access. 4:54 So when we talk about inclusion, it's also about where can we have these global 4:59 conversations in a way that doesn't alienate the global majority? 5:03 So Jamaica is a country of roughly 100 countries can enter visa free. 5:08 That is not the case, for example, in the United Kingdom or the United States or in 5:12 Australia, et cetera. 5:13 So it needs these conversations. 5:15 If they're going to be truly global, then the global majority has to go there. 5:20 We also chose Jamaica because of its climate vulnerability. 5:24 And so there is clearly a reality that hits one when one is there in Jamaica. 5:30 And then there's the climate genius. 5:31 There's been remarkable innovation. 5:33 Jamaica was the first country, for example, to issue a climate disaster bond. 5:38 Now, that's the why of that location. 5:40 The what is really about how do we finance globally climate solutions, small and 5:48 medium sized enterprises or SMEs? 5:51 Because the truth is multinational companies, no matter where they are, whether 5:56 Indonesian or Brazilian or European, they have access to capital to decarbonize. 6:02 It's where actually the majority of people are employed by small and medium sized 6:06 enterprises. And it's there that the climate action has to take place. 6:10 And it's there where we find actually the renewable energy developers, where we find 6:15 lots of companies that have heat pumps, for example, and other solutions. 6:19 And so they actually need the access to capital the most. 6:22 And that's where the dearth of capital is. 6:24 So that was the focus of the Global Climate Finance Forum. 6:28 And so there were a number of solutions that were surfaced during that convening as we 6:33 networked both those SMEs and also the investors and lenders that are either already 6:39 investing in SMEs or not. 6:41 And why not? And how can we ensure that that happens? 6:44 Could you give a concrete example of the kind of initiative in the Global South that's 6:49 already happening, has been funded and has had an impact? 6:54 Now, there are a plethora of venture capital firms and, let's say, startup accelerators 7:00 and incubators that are operating in the Global South on climate innovation. 7:04 One example is New Energy Nexus. 7:06 Another example is Envio. 7:08 And they are backing climate friendly companies in various ways in the Global South. 7:13 And the list goes on. 7:15 There are a number of Global South banks and credit unions that are part of that network, 7:19 and they are actively financing climate SMEs and also at the residential level, things 7:26 like rooftop solar. 7:27 One example is Centenary Bank in Uganda or Brack Bank in Bangladesh. 7:33 These are ESG or environmental, social and governance forward institutions. 7:38 So there's actually, we backed the funding of a publicly accessible, free of charge 7:42 database where you can click on the region, the world, look at the stock exchange and 7:47 find the climate solutions stocks that are listed there. 7:50 So there's no excuse in terms of visibility in finding this. 7:53 And so the audience can go to climatesolutionsstocks.com. 7:57 You know, you can click on ASEAN or Southeast Asia, click on India, click on Latin America 8:01 and the Caribbean, click on the African Union. 8:04 You can also click on the US, the EU, China, et cetera. 8:07 And so there's visibility to that. 8:09 And so we have, for example, Wicked Energy, wind capabilities in Jamaica that's listed 8:14 on that stock exchange. 8:16 In Indonesia, there's geothermal companies that are listed. 8:19 In Namibia, there's a solar developer that's listed. 8:21 And so, again, the solutions are there. 8:24 We need to help motivate and incentivize investors to allocate the capital to those 8:30 areas. 8:32 Would it be true to say that essentially people, investors can get more bang for their 8:37 buck, if you like, or more impact for their investment by investing in the Global South 8:41 if what they want to do is invest in climate solutions? 8:44 It's not a secret that emerging markets and developing economies offer outsized returns 8:52 for a number of financial asset classes and so on. 8:55 The interest rates tend to be much higher. 8:58 The ability to scale tends to tends to be there, whether you're looking at such a large 9:02 economy like Indonesia or Brazil or even smaller economies that, when grouped together, 9:06 provide that scale, such as in the Caribbean. 9:09 In 2019, for example, Jamaica had the highest returning stock market in the world. 9:14 And so there's lots of money that's being left on the table by excluding the Global 9:19 South from one's portfolio. 9:21 Do you think that investment flows are going more in that direction now? 9:25 Are you seeing any move or improvement that people are seeing these opportunities? 9:32 So the current data is not positive. 9:35 And so unfortunately, what we know now is that it's low and it's not increasing. 9:41 But I would posit that with more media attention, with more visibility, that can easily 9:45 be turned around because there is a herd mentality in the investment world, no doubt 9:50 about it. And so I think there's some of this is just the inertia and the lack of 9:54 knowledge and the comfort of one's home ground. 10:00 And so because most of the wealth is concentrated in high income countries, that's 10:04 where also most of the investment tends to take place. 10:08 But once again, by crossing the border, there are important investment and impact 10:13 metrics that can be met for pure financial returns and for climate action. 10:18 It should seem fairly obvious that the Global South, being much more severely impacted 10:24 by climate change, it's logical that people living there are going to come up with more 10:28 initiatives because it's so urgent for people's day to day lives. 10:31 That's exactly right. And that's the overlook genius that we are looking to highlight in 10:36 our work at the Climate Finance Fund. 10:39 That was Impact.info, doing things differently. Embed this interview on your site
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