Sustainable Finance

What’s at stake 

Increasing risks from intensifying extreme weather events and volatile fossil fuel markets touch all aspects of society. This includes our economic growth and stability, the foundation on which households, businesses, investors, and banks depend. At the same time, the clean energy transition heralds lower costs, increased energy security, and declining pollution. Addressing the threats and seizing the opportunities head-on will take ambitious and innovative funding and financing approaches. At every stage of the technology life cycle—development and validation, early adoption, commercialization, and scaling—the costs of the energy transition must be covered, and the benefits must be shared equitably. And as energy, financial, and natural systems shift, we need to be able to respond to the repercussions. 

How NRDC is making a difference 

NRDC works with the public and private sectors to spur innovations that will help economies transition and adapt to this new world. We’re teaming up with green banks and other financial institutions to expand community-scale climate finance, helping to deliver affordable clean energy and efficient, resilient housing to communities. We are also building resilience in states to buffer against extreme weather–related hazards that threaten home insurability and advocating for transparent climate risk information for companies, investors, and the public. Locally, we work with regional and local lenders and government leaders to implement new community climate finance practices. Globally, we are establishing deeper partnerships across governments, development banks, climate funds, investors, and more to scale up investments in clean energy and resilience projects using financial tools, risk analytics, and technical expertise.