How Philanthropic and Catalytic Capital Can Unlock Investment for Climate Resilience | From Idea to Impact

🌐 Language: English

♿ Wheel-chair accessible

💶 Event free of charge

🎟️ Hosted by: UBS Optimus Foundation & SDG Impact Finance Initiative

Climate resilience and biodiversity are among the most urgent investment challenges of our time. Yet many promising solutions remain underfunded because traditional grant funding alone cannot meet the scale of the challenge, while commercial investors often perceive these sectors as too risky or insufficiently mature.

This session explores how philanthropic and catalytic capital can help bridge that gap.

Hosted by UBS Optimus Foundation and the SDG Impact Finance Initiative (SIFI) as part of Munich Climate Week, the event brings together foundations, family offices, philanthropists, investors, conservation organisations, and sustainability leaders to discuss how philanthropic capital can do more than fund projects. It can create the conditions that enable investment.

Catalytic philanthropy uses tools such as guarantees, first-loss capital, and other risk-sharing structures to unlock investment in markets and sectors where commercial capital would not otherwise participate. When designed effectively, these approaches can mobilise significant additional capital while allowing philanthropic resources to be recycled and redeployed over time.

The discussion will move beyond theory and focus on practical experience. Drawing on insights from more than 30 active climate and nature finance solutions across Asia, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, speakers will examine what has worked, where challenges remain, and what lessons can inform future climate resilience investments.

Participants will explore:

What catalytic philanthropic capital is and how it differs from both traditional grant-making and impact investing When blended finance structures are appropriate and when they are not Common concerns around additionality, complexity, liquidity and effectiveness Why climate resilience and biodiversity continue to attract only a limited share of global investment capital How partnerships between philanthropic, public and private actors can unlock solutions that none could achieve alone The programme will feature expert perspectives, a fireside conversation on catalytic capital, and practical examples from innovative climate and nature finance initiatives. Selected solution providers will present real-world cases demonstrating how philanthropic funding has helped transform early-stage ideas into investable opportunities capable of mobilising larger pools of capital.

Designed for foundations, family offices, private asset owners and investors interested in climate and nature, this interactive session offers an opportunity to engage with peers, challenge assumptions, and explore how different forms of capital can work together to accelerate climate resilience.

Join us to discuss how philanthropy can move beyond funding individual projects and become a catalyst for system-wide change.