LocationsFinancing the Green Transition: How UNDP's PISTA is Helping Countries Turn Climate Ambition into Action
June 3, 2025
Climate change poses significant risks to ecosystems, human health, and economic stability. Yet financing constraints remain one of the greatest barriers to unlocking capital at scale for climate action and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nowhere is this challenge more pressing than in developing economies.
For instance, climate finance flows to African countries in 2021/22 accounted for only 23% of the estimated annual investment needed to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2030. This financing gap is not due to a lack of ambition – many countries have developed strong national climate plans – but reflects the urgent need to increase the number and improve the quality of investable, impactful projects that can attract funding.
To meet the moment, governments must not only mobilize domestic resources but also deploy innovative finance tools – such as green bonds, blended finance mechanisms, and sustainability-linked instruments – and build pipelines of bankable projects.
UNDP is working at the forefront of this challenge. One of its newest tools is PISTA (Platform for Investment Support and Technical Assistance), launched in 2024 and hosted at the UNDP Rome Centre for Climate Action and Energy Security. Supported by Italy's Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, PISTA is a catalytic climate finance platform that helps translate national climate priorities into bankable investments. Starting with the identification of climate adaptation and mitigation projects across key sectors such as clean energy, climate-resilient agriculture, and green infrastructure, PISTA provides technical assistance to enhance project bankability and investment readiness. It then supports the mobilization of financing through national and international financing instruments by engaging investors.
Here are four examples of how PISTA is already helping countries close the climate finance gap.
In Angola, economic reliance on oil and a financial ecosystem still developing its capacity for sustainable investment pose significant barriers to attracting climate finance. Recognizing the need to diversify and green its economy, Angola is seeking to position itself as a regional hub for climate and sustainable finance.
In February 2025, UNDP Angola and BODIVA, the national stock and debt exchange, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to foster the growth of sustainable finance markets. With technical assistance from PISTA, the partnership aims to reinforce the Angolan financial ecosystem and improve private sector access to sustainable financing instruments. A key focus is the promotion of Angola’s energy transition through thematic bonds – including green and climate bonds – that can channel investment into priority climate sectors.
Signing of the MoU between BODIVA and UNDP Angola (February, 2025)
“Collaboration with UNDP will expand access to new forms of financing for companies and projects aligned with the SDGs and enable the achievement of one of BODIVA's strategic objectives by 2028, which is to deepen and broaden the national capital market through the creation of innovative financial instruments, such as green, blue, social or climate bonds.”Cristina Lourenço, Executive Director, BODIVA.
This collaboration is also designed to help BODIVA reach its 2028 target of expanding capital markets through innovative bond structures. This groundwork for a local green bond market is enabling Angola to attract long-term, climate-aligned capital and strengthen its financial architecture in line with national decarbonization goals.
Ethiopia’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of its economy, yet access to finance remains a major barrier to their growth and green transition. As climate risks – like drought and land degradation – intensify, SMEs are increasingly exposed to shocks that threaten their operations and livelihoods. Therefore, expanding access to sustainable finance is essential to help these businesses invest in resilient, low-carbon solutions that support both economic stability and climate goals.
Appointment of Kuramo Capital as Fund Manger for EFF fund
Supported by PISTA, the Innovative Finance Lab – a joint initiative by the National Bank of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority, and UNDP – has developed the Enterprise Financing Facility (EFF), a $100 million blended finance fund-of-funds. The EFF is designed to mobilize and deploy capital into SMEs and startups, while anchoring venture capital and private equity funds that will primarily target the Ethiopian market. The initiative aims to catalyze private investment, close the financing gap, and support the country’s broader economic transformation agenda. In 2024, Kuramo Capital was selected to manage the facility. PISTA’s support will be key for designing a green screening and taxonomy framework for EFF, as well as for developing social and environmental guidelines aligned with UNDP standards and national regulations. This strategic support ensures that EFF investments are both environmentally and socially responsible, unlocking new capital flows for climate-smart businesses across Ethiopia.
Tunisia’s waste management challenges, intensified by rapid urbanization and insufficient infrastructure, have significant environmental and climate implications. As waste accumulates without effective treatment or recycling systems, it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and resource depletion. Addressing these challenges is crucial not only for improving public health and local ecosystems but also for reducing the country’s overall carbon footprint and advancing climate resilience..
In response, the Tunisian island of Djerba is now piloting a response through the project "Towards a Circular Model for the Treatment and Valorization of Waste and Materials." Led by UNDP Tunisia, the National Agency for Energy Conservation (ANME) and in collaboration with the National Agency for Waste Management (ANGED), the initiative aims to transition Djerba’s waste management system to a circular economy model that prioritizes reuse, recycling, and resource efficiency. The project includes a biomethanation component to treat the organic fraction of waste, supporting a more integrated and sustainable approach to waste management. This process not only supports climate change mitigation, desertification control, and food security, but also enables renewable energy production and reduces environmental pollution.
Key stakeholders from Tunisia, Japan and Italy at the project site
Waste in Djerba, Tunisia
"Djerba is becoming a reference. We are building a system that integrates recycling and energy recovery in an intelligent way.”M. Imed Landolsi, Director of Biomass at ANME.
PISTA, together with the Government of Japan, is helping drive this shift by developing a comprehensive feasibility study, developing tendering and contracting modalities, and establishing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks. The project is not only expected to reduce emissions and pressure on landfills but also to generate green jobs and stimulate local economic activity. Its integrated approach can serve as a tested model for scaling circular economy solutions nationwide, delivering both climate and development gains.
Amid Zambia’s most severe drought in recent history, energy resilience is a top national priority. Excessive reliance on hydropower – the country’s dominant energy source – has become increasingly risky, underscoring the urgency of diversifying toward additional renewable sources.
In May 2025, Zambia marked the groundbreaking of the Cooma Solar Project, a 60 MW solar facility that will provide clean power to over 65,000 homes and businesses. Developed by GEI Power (Zambia) and YEO Teknoloji (Turkey), the project received crucial support from UNDP Zambia and PISTA to advance toward financial closure.
Honourable Minister of Energy of Zambia Makozo Chikote and other key stakeholders at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Cooma Solar Project in Choma District, Zambia.
The Cooma Solar Project in Choma District, Zambia.
“This project brings not only clean power but also opportunities for employment, skills transfer, and local development. I have been reliably informed that this project will create more than 150 direct jobs and 1,467 indirect jobs during and after construction.”Honourable Makozo Chikote, Minister of Energy.
To help move the project forward, PISTA is providing transaction advisory services, enhancing the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), and developing a Gender Action Plan to ensure the project is inclusive and responsive to community needs. Once operational, Cooma Solar will strengthen Zambia’s energy security, reduce emissions, and generate green jobs – advancing the country’s climate and development goals.
Sustaining momentum, scaling impact
As these initiatives move from design to full implementation, they are beginning to demonstrate the value of early-stage technical assistance in advancing nationally led climate priorities. Projects like Cooma Solar in Zambia, the Enterprise Financing Facility in Ethiopia, the circular economy pilot in Tunisia, and the development of a sustainable finance market in Angola reflect how catalytic support can help governments and partners unlock finance, de-risk innovation, and deliver tangible progress toward climate and development goals.
This work comes at a critical moment: with the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) and COP30 on the horizon, countries are increasingly focused on mobilizing capital at speed and scale to meet their climate and development targets. The growing recognition that public finance alone is not sufficient makes platforms like PISTA more relevant than ever – helping bridge gaps between national priorities and the capital required to implement them.
Building on this momentum, PISTA will continue supporting governments and other stakeholders to strengthen the policy, institutional, and financial foundations needed to accelerate just, inclusive, and climate-resilient development. By advancing bankable pipelines, crowding in private investment, and aligning finance with national climate strategies, PISTA contributes to a more effective global response – grounded in country ownership and focused on results.
PISTA (Platform for Investment Support and Technical Assistance) is a climate finance facility established by the UNDP Rome Centre for Climate Action and Energy Transition, with support from the Italian Government (Ministry of Environment and Energy Security). Launched in June 2024, PISTA aims to bridge the gap between available climate finance and the investments needed in developing economies to support their decarbonization and transition to climate-resilient development.
PISTA provides technical assistance to prepare large, impactful climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in developing economies and make them bankable and ready for investment. PISTA further connects such projects with potential financiers and aims to unlock over $500 million in blended finance over its 4-year implementation period.
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Learn more at: https://www.undp.org/romecentre/our-programmes/pista
