With increasing urbanisation as well as the urgent need to address and adapt to climate change, the need for sustainable infrastructure is undeniable. It is estimated that the world will need $90 trillion to finance the development of sustainable infrastructure by 2030. This is far beyond the capacity of government and development finance institutions alone and requires considerable mobilisation of private capital. But private capital does not have the same investment horizon or risk appetite.
A blended finance approach combines catalytic funding in the form of grants, government incentives and other risk-transfer structures that help attract commercial private capital by acting as guarantors, and/or absorb the initial risk or first loss. This session will focus on such innovative structures, including the role insurance plays in the de-risking and enablement of sustainable infrastructure.
Speaker:
Neha Bhatia is a graduate in Economics and has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad in India. She also completed a post-experience Masters in Finance (with Dean's honors) from Rotterdam School of Management, Netherlands and has a certificate in Sustainable Finance from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership. Recently, she has been working with Swiss Re India as Head of Reinsurance Strategy and Investments. As part of her investments responsibility, Neha has been active in the field of blended finance, working on sustainable funding structures for infrastructure projects in India.
Chair:
Wojciech Herchel, Member of the Finance and Investment Board