Climate finance and investment in low-income countries

Climate finance is a critical tool in supporting low-income countries as they face the growing impacts of climate change.

These nations, despite contributing the least to global emissions, are often the most vulnerable to climate-related shocks such as extreme weather, rising sea levels, and food insecurity. Yet, they frequently lack access to the capital needed to adapt, build resilience, and pursue low-carbon development. Unlocking investment for climate action in low-income countries requires a coordinated effort between governments, development banks, private investors, and international organisations.

This event brings together a panel of prominent researchers, policymakers and practitioners working on this topic to explore strengthening the essential financial support and investment necessary for a just transition.

Meet our speakers and chair
Melinda Bohannon is Director General Global Issues at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). She was previously Director General Humanitarian and Development, from July 2023 to September 2025. An LSE alumnus, Melinda joined the Civil Service in 1999 as an economist and has worked in DFID, FCO and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) since that time, as well as in the private sector and research. She has covered a range of international geographic roles including on the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, the former Soviet Union and China.

Vera Songwe is Chair and Founder of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility. She is a senior non resident fellow at the Brookings Institution with Global Economy and Development and the Africa Growth Initiative. She is the Co-Chair of the Independent High Level Expert Panel on Climate Finance, where she has supported the government of the UK and Egypt for COP27 and also for the Egypt and the UAE under COP28 working with Lord Stern. Under these COP presidencies they authored the Songwe-Stern report on climate finance as well the report on accelerating implementation of climate finance. She also co-authored the report Financing nature: a Transformative agenda launched at COP28.

Sudarno Sumarto is an economist and the first Director of the SMERU Research Institute. Now, he serves as Senior Research Fellow in the SMERU Research Institute. Moreover, his current position as a policy adviser at the National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction (TNP2K) under the Office of the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia shows his strong link to Indonesian policymakers. He holds a PhD and an MA from Vanderbilt University, all in economics.

Chris Woodruff is Professor of Development Economics and a fellow at Wolfson College. He is the Scientific Coordinator for the DFID – CEPR joint research venture on Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries (PEDL) and directs the Firm Capabilities group at the International Growth Centre.

Nicholas Stern is IG Patel Chair of Economics and Government and the inaugural Chair of the Global School of Sustainability at LSE. His forthcoming book A Growth Story for the 21st Century: building sustainable, resilient and equitable development will be published by LSE Press in 2025.

Find out more information about this event here

This is one of three public events during LSE Environment Week, the others are:

22 September - Investing in our future: COP30 and the sustainable growth agenda

23 September - Valuing nature in a changing climate: rethinking natural capital