Building the climate innovation pipeline: unlocking small funds to accelerate and de-risk local solutions

In Africa and many other climate-vulnerable regions, innovative solutions to adaptation often stall before they can be implemented on a large scale — not because they are irrelevant or lacking in ambition, but because early-stage support is fragmented, underfunded, and high-risk. Community-based early warning systems, nature-based infrastructure, water-saving technologies, and climate-smart agricultural tools all face the same hurdle: they must prove their viability at a local level before they can attract significant support from larger funders. 

This session focuses on the crucial yet frequently overlooked early stages of the climate innovation pipeline, including technical assessments, feasibility studies, RD&I, and demonstration projects. These are the essential steps where public and philanthropic capital can reduce the risk of innovation, demonstrate its impact, and build investor confidence. 

We will explore how smaller government, bilateral, and foundation programmes can play a significant role in accelerating the local deployment of technologies and approaches, creating a solid proof of concept that can unlock larger follow-on funding from development banks, DFIs, and multilateral climate funds.