Nordic Development Fund

Established in 1989, the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) is a joint development finance institution of the Nordic countries, focusing on the nexus between climate change and development in lower-income countries and those in fragile situations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, usually in cooperation with trusted partners.

For its collaborations with ADB, the NDF prioritizes projects on climate change mitigation and adaptation, resilience, natural resources management, and capacity building. The fund supports ADB Ventures, a venture capital and technical assistance fund that helps early-stage growth companies operate on technology and deliver development impact to its beneficiaries in Asia and the Pacific.

The NDF supports the Community Resilience Financing Partnership Facility, which aims to scale up community-level investments in climate adaptation and build the resilience of poor and vulnerable communities to the negative impacts of climate change.

Highlights

Trust Funds. In April 2023, the NDF committed €8.5 million (around $9.3 million) to contribute to the Ocean Resilience and Coastal Adaptation Trust Fund. The fund was established in March 2023 to increase the quantity and quality of investments in ocean health (including resilience and the blue economy) and coastal adaptation.

Knowledge. During a side event at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), ADB organized a session that engaged high-level representatives from governments, financial institutions, and philanthropy in a dialogue to identify approaches and measures for scaling up climate adaptation investments at the local level and discuss how the Community Resilience Partnership Program (CRPP) can help address key barriers and promote innovative solutions. NDF Deputy Managing Director Leena Klossner attended the event. The CRPP is operationalized through (i) a multi-donor trust fund supported by the NDF that supports generating evidence and knowledge, building capacity, and developing large-scale public investments that can promote local adaptation measures; and (ii) an investment fund that provides concessional resources for implementation of local adaptation solutions.