Catalysation by Design: Enabling Development Banks and Development Finance Institutions to Mobilise Private Capital at Scale

Denmark is deeply committed to unlocking private capital at scale for climate action in developing countries. With global financial assets at roughly USD 486 trillion, the constraint is not the availability of capital but its allocation – how capital is mobilised, priced and channelled into productive investment in the markets where the investment opportunities are greatest. Rethinking development banking is therefore one of the most salient challenges for climate action. OECD research shows that while development banks and development finance institutions already account for more than 90 per cent of private finance mobilised through development finance, mobilisation remains well below expectations and is in many institutions still treated as an additional activity rather than a core function. As part of New York Climate Week 2026, Denmark, the OECD and State of Green will convene a high-level roundtable to explore priority actions for development banks and DFIs in working with developing countries to get capital into projects on the ground that put the lives and livelihoods of people in a changing climate at the centre. It will build on the key messages of a new OECD report and bring together key organisations, governments and other global leaders that are advancing efforts towards mobilising private capital at speed and scale for developing countries.