This side event, organised by the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate in the context of the UN 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, will explore innovative finance models that will increase the catalytic potential of overseas development assistance and that will significantly increase blended finance for sustainable development. Moreover, these strategies will increase the flow of financing to SMEs, small-scale farmers, landowners, and nature-based solution providers that often face severe difficulties in accessing blended and private money. 

The development community has long discussed the potential to attract private finance and development funding, aiming to scale from billions to trillions. However, this ambition remains unrealised. Overseas development assistance is an increasingly scarce and precious resource, and donors are justifiably focused on seeking the most additionality for the opportunities in which they invest. At the same time, achieving the SDGs is becoming an increasingly expensive and difficult endeavour as the world transgresses six of the nine planetary boundaries (Stockholm Resilience Centre, 2023). 

This side event will discuss ideas on how to increase value for money and financing the transition towards a low-carbon and sustainable future. The transition, which we are living through now, is uncertain and expensive. This transition is also a time when expenditure is high, and revenues are low. We hence need long and patient financing that is affordable and that can be paid back when revenues are high.

Join our side event taking place in Sevilla, Spain, on Monday 30 June 2025, from 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm CEST.

Agenda: 

• Welcome - Presenting the Food Security and Nutrition Aid Tracker

  Elsa Olivetti, Food and Agriculture Organisation

• Panel discussion with questions from the audience - Increasing development and financial additionality for every donor dollar

  Panelists:

  • Jolie Schwarz, Gates Foundation

  • Maurizio Navarra, Global Donor Platform for Rural Development

  • Barbara Buchner, Climate Policy Initiative

  • Chris Clubb, Convergence

  • and more speakers TBC

• Closing

Moderation: Oshani Perera, Shamba Centre for Food & Climate