Understanding barriers to climate investments

Under the Paris Agreement on combating climate change, each signatory country is committed to developing and submitting a comprehensive national action plan – known as a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) – to support the fight against global warming. A key step in the successful implementation of these action plans is the incorporation of NDC commitments and measures into domestic legal and governance systems.

In 2016 the EBRD launched a pilot assessment of the national policy, legal, financial and institutional barriers to the achievement of NDC objectives in Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. The study found that a lack of regulatory transparency and deficient monitoring and enforcement mechanisms are holding back the attainment of mitigation objectives (such as the development of renewable energy or energy efficiency projects) and adaptation objectives. The report also highlights good practices that can be exported to neighbouring countries.

The study made recommendations for each country on the legal and institutional steps that would support their NDC implementation. As well as guiding national authorities on the reforms they may wish to undertake, these recommendations help to inform investor decisions.

The EBRD is considering replicating the pilot assessment in other countries of operations. This would pave the way for much higher levels of climate investment by the Bank and its finance partners.

To learn more about legal reform in EBRD countries of operations, see the Bank’s publication Law in Transition.