February 27, 2025, ADFIAP Chairman, H.E. Dr. KAO Thach, spoke at the High-Level Roundtable Discussion on the topic, “Greening Financial Systems: Unlocking Capital for Climate and Development” during the FICs 2025 Summit, alongside the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting, in Cape Town, Africa.

This discussion is design to (i) engage high-level stakeholders in a discussion on the strategies, financial and regulatory instruments, and collaborative approaches required for systemic changes to the financial system to align and catalyze financial flows to climate and development objectives, (ii) raise political attention to the initiatives encouraging other actors to join, (iii) build new connections and partnership across the greening financial system agenda with PDBs, (iv) promote an exchange between ministries of finance, central banks, public development banks and private financial stakeholders on areas of mutual support and collaboration and feed into G20 finance track discussions, (v) outline the way forward for strengthened collaboration and the support that the global community can give to strengthen collaborative climate action, (vi) enlarge support for a collaborative global financial architecture, promoting transformative fi nance for climate and SDGs, with PDBs as its backbone.

Dr. KAO Thach has stressed the strategies of ADFIAP driving the transition toward greener economies by illustrating the showcases of ADFIAP members. In achieving the transition to the green economies and financial system, ADFIAP members have adopted the following initiatives: (i) green financial and sustainable investment, (ii) policy advocacy, (iii) capacity building and knowledge-sharing, (iv) climate risk management and ESG integration, (v) green SMEs financing and inclusive growth, (vi) partnership and collaboration, (vii) research and development, (viii) monitoring and reporting.

Moreover, he has also illustrated the key initiatives for the next 5 to 10 years to scale up the collective impacts as the following truly:

1. Mobilizing Additional Financial Resources: blended finance mechanisms must be expanded. By strategically combining development finance with private capital, we can de-risk investments and unlock billions for critical sectors such as healthcare, infrastructure, and climate adaptation.
2. Reforming the Global Financial System: We need urgent reforms to the international financial architecture. Our current system disproportionately burdens developing countries with high borrowing costs, trapping them in debt cycles. We must push for fairer debt relief initiatives and new mechanisms to restructure sovereign debt, ensuring that no country is forced to choose between debt repayment and essential services for its people. Furthermore, it is imperative that multilateral development banks (MDBs) scale up their lending capacity and adapt their risk assessment frameworks to prioritize sustainable investments.
3. Enhancing Domestic Resource Mobilization: at the national level, we must implement progressive tax reforms to strengthen domestic revenue collection. This includes closing tax loopholes, combating illicit financial flows, and ensuring that multinational corporations contribute their fair share. Governments must also adopt innovative financing tools such as green bonds, carbon pricing, and sovereign wealth funds to finance long-term sustainability projects.
4. Strengthening International Cooperation and Partnerships: we must uphold the commitments made by developed countries to meet their official development assistance (ODA) targets. At the same time, we need to foster south-south and triangular cooperation, leveraging knowledge-sharing and resource-pooling among developing nations to drive localized, sustainable solutions.

This high-level discussion was co-organized by the NDC Partnership, UNEP FI, European Investment Bank, International Development Finance Club, and Global Solidarity Levies Task Force at the FIC 2025 Summit in Cape Town, South Africa.