Climate Finance Accelerator Programme

Challenge

The Climate Finance Accelerator (CFA) was a technical assistance programme funded by the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) as part of its efforts to help emerging markets deliver their climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Emerging market countries face common challenges in accessing funding at scale. Early-stage proposals often struggle to connect with specialist capital market practitioners who can link them to investor communities. Simultaneously, local policy landscapes, including regulatory regimes, can be unsupportive of entrepreneurship, leaving projects bogged down by bureaucracy and lacking the necessary guidance and support.

Following a successful pilot programme in 2017, Ricardo helped to deliver a four-year CFA programme (2020–2024), providing specialist assistance to ten participating countries: Colombia, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Türkiye, Peru, Egypt, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Uganda.

The programme was delivered with in-country local partners as part of an alliance led by PwC.

Approach

As the ‘country lead,’ Ricardo played a pivotal role in bringing national, provincial and municipal policymakers together with project developers, facilitating connections with expert mentors from international finance and banking. By creating structured dialogue between the public sector, project sponsors and private financiers, Ricardo helped align policy priorities with investment opportunities and unlock practical pathways to finance.

Using workshops, technical forums, and one-to-one advisory sessions, Ricardo’s experts supported participants to:

• Identify low-carbon projects that align with nationally determined contributions (NDCs) across sectors including renewable energy (solar and wind), energy efficiency in buildings and industry, sustainable transport and electric mobility, waste management and circular economy solutions, water and wastewater treatment, and climate-smart agriculture.
• Strengthen engagement with private financiers, clarifying investor expectations and prioritising viable financing propositions. 
• Develop the commercial structure of projects to the stage where they can secure primary finance in local capital markets.

For projects of significant scale in relevant sectors (such as renewable energy, transport, and buildings), participants  explored options including refinancing structures and green bond issuance issuance designed to attract international capital.

This experience has been recognized as a leading example by British Expertise and is featured in their publication: Accelerating Climate Finance: A View from UK-Based Specialist Providers (external link).

The programme also involved working on gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), helping project developers and investors integrate GESI considerations into their proposals and decision-making. See more:

•    GESI Guidance for Investors (external link).
•    GESI Benefits for Project Developers (external link).

Ricardo’s multidisciplinary team included specialist expertise in NDC implementation, climate policy alignment and financing mechanisms for energy and transport projects, ensuring that supported investments were both commercially viable and strategically aligned with national climate commitments.

Outcomes

The CFA programme was designed to strengthen the early stages of the climate finance investment chain by transforming promising low-carbon concepts into investable project pipelines. By combining technical assistance, structured investor engagement and policy alignment, the programme addresses key barriers to private investment in emerging markets.

This collaborative, capacity-building approach helped develop domestic expertise to ensure a steady flow of projects while nurturing a governance and policy environment conducive to innovation and new initiatives.

Between 2020 and 2024, the CFA programme supported 238 projects across ten countries, resulting in 50 investment deals in eight countries and mobilising approximately $410 million in investments. Supported projects span sectors including renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, waste and circular economy, green buildings, agriculture and manufacturing.

As a country lead and delivery partner, Ricardo’s contributions have been instrumental in advancing project investment readiness. This has included strengthening financial models, refining commercial structures, aligning projects with investor expectations, and facilitating direct engagement with local and international financiers. These contributions have helped project developers secure financing and accelerate the implementation of impactful, low-carbon initiatives.

See the impact of the CFA in this short video summary and the CFA Impact Report Summary (external links).

Learn more about what the CFA offered to projects here (external link).