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Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey are amongst nations being promised entry to funding to deal with air pollution from industries reminiscent of cement and metal, as a bunch of multilateral lenders doubles down on local weather motion regardless of the pushback from the Trump administration.
Beneath a brand new initiative billed as the most important of its type, seven nations, together with Namibia, Egypt and Uzbekistan, will have the ability to entry finance from a coalition of improvement banks and funds to deal particularly with greenhouse fuel emissions from heavy industry.
The $12.5bn Local weather Funding Fund will lead the programme by providing concessional loans of as much as $250mn every to the nations with the purpose of drawing further funds from multilateral improvement banks, the personal sector and different buyers.
Multilateral financiers have lengthy backed power initiatives within the creating world however have targeted much less on how one can make industrial processes greener. Business accounts for a couple of third of emissions globally.
The transfer comes because the US, one of many important shareholders in lots of improvement banks and traditionally an enormous donor, reverses course on climate policies and funding.
Following the withdrawal from the UN Paris Settlement on the primary day of his second US presidency, Donald Trump this yr rescinded a pledge to offer $4bn to the UN’s Inexperienced Local weather Fund, the world’s largest fund of its type. The choice to chop the USAID company has additionally hit local weather initiatives globally.
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has additionally urged the IMF and the World Bank to step again from their local weather change agendas. He mentioned they need to transfer away from “distortionary local weather finance targets” and deal with “reliable applied sciences that may maintain financial development”.
However the head of CIF, one of many world’s largest devoted local weather funding funds, mentioned decarbonising economies was essential to “securing long-term prosperity and the roles of tomorrow”.
“The worldwide race to decarbonise trade has begun, and rising markets are out entrance,” mentioned Tariye Gbadegesin, CIF chief govt.
Primarily based on previous co-financing initiatives, each $1 invested by CIF was anticipated to generate an additional $12 from different sources, the fund mentioned.
The nations chosen have been required to submit proposals for funding. Beneath the initiative, they’ll work with multilateral improvement banks, the personal sector and CIF to develop detailed funding plans for submission by the tip of 2026.
Brazil’s deputy secretary for sustainable improvement finance, Ivan Oliveira, mentioned the programme supplied an “alternative to speed up funding in clear applied sciences which are important to Brazil’s financial future”.
The biggest nation in South America, and host of this yr’s COP30 local weather summit, is focusing on sectors reminiscent of cement, metal, chemical substances, fertilisers, aluminium, pulp and paper, and glass.
The programme would “assist reveal that local weather motion and industrial competitiveness can go hand in hand”, Oliveira mentioned.
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