A senior UN Development Programme official has called for faster action to turn available capital and technology into green investments, as Istanbul hosts an investment summit ahead of COP31.
Speaking at the summit on Friday, UNDP Deputy Assistant Administrator Nick Rene Hartmann said the challenge was connecting financial resources with viable climate and development projects.
“We do not lack the capital,” he said. “Time is not our friend.”
Jointly organised by the Turkish Presidency’s Investment and Finance Office and the International Investors Association, the summit brought together government officials, international organisations and global companies at Ziraat Bank’s headquarters in the Istanbul Financial Centre.
Discussions focused on mobilising international investment in clean energy, sustainable industry, infrastructure and the circular economy ahead of the UN climate conference, which Türkiye is set to host in Antalya in November.
Hartmann estimated the value of the global financial system at $305 trillion, comparing it with an annual financing gap of $4.3 trillion for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in developing countries, roughly 1.4 percent of that total.
Yet clean energy projects in developing countries can face financing costs up to seven times those in advanced economies, he said.
Since 2010, solar energy costs have fallen by 90 percent and battery storage costs by 93 percent, he added, stressing the need for effective regulation, reliable infrastructure and risk sharing to translate those gains into investment.
Turning climate commitments into projects
Hartmann welcomed Türkiye’s ambition to make COP31 an “implementation COP”, saying investment must advance at speed and scale.
The Climate Bridge initiative, to be presented at COP31, aims to turn climate commitments into investment opportunities, with initial demonstration projects envisaged in Ethiopia, Fiji, Indonesia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
The approach would combine concessional finance, grants, guarantees, risk-sharing instruments and private capital, he said.
UNDP has identified 700 sustainable development investment opportunities across 50 countries, Hartmann said. Since 2022, it has supported initiatives helping align more than $920 billion in public and private financing with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Strengthening Turkish suppliers
In Türkiye, UNDP and the Industry and Technology Ministry have developed a resource efficiency programme backed by $5 million in EU support, Hartmann said.
The programme aims to prepare investment-ready projects and strengthen Turkish suppliers’ competitiveness as low-carbon partners for international investors and European buyers.
Hartmann urged investors to look beyond projects already close to securing financing, invest in skills and local suppliers, and incorporate sustainability from the outset.
“Sustainability should therefore not be treated simply as a compliance cost,” he said. “It is an increasing source of economic value and an investment worth making.”
