Moderator

• Thomas Beloe
  UNDP, Director, Sustainable Finance Hub

Panelists

• Ismael Villanueva Zúñiga
  NAFIN México, Head of Unit for Emissions and International Relations

• Marcelo Miterhof
  BNDES, Brazil, Advisor to the Managing Director

• Iván Vicente Cornejo Villalta
  ALIDE in Mexico, National Coordinador

Background
The Latin America and the Caribbean bring strong institutional assets: a network of development banks with proven leverage capacity, a growing financial innovation landscape, and regulatory frameworks evolving toward sustainability. The Sevilla Commitment calls for turning these assets into results by mobilizing resources from all sources and aligning investment with national priorities through transparent, measurable, SDG-consistent instruments.

A core feature of Sevilla is the promotion of Country Platforms, government-led coordination spaces that translate national plans into bankable investment portfolios, aligning public, private, and multilateral actors. Sevilla also encourages sustainable taxonomies, risk-mitigation tools, thematic bonds, and blended finance to steer capital toward projects with verifiable social and economic impact.

At the same time, the international context demands greater ingenuity. Official Development Assistance and several traditional cooperation flows have declined, underscoring the need for a whole-of-society approach that unlocks private capital and fosters long-term investment.

Despite progress, the region still faces an annual development financing gap estimated at USD 650 billion–1.3 trillion. Addressing it requires scaling what works, harmonizing standards, and strengthening impact measurement, ensuring every mobilized dollar advances clearly defined development outcomes.

Objectives

• Examine opportunities and challenges to mobilize public, private, and blended finance in line with the Sevilla Commitment.
• Highlight the roles of development banks, Country Platforms, sustainable taxonomies, and sustainable PPPs in expanding responsible, high-impact investment.
• Identify policy measures, incentives, and partnerships to enhance regulatory coherence, transparency, and implementation at scale.

Guiding questions

• Which innovations (blending, guarantees, thematic bonds, taxonomies) are best aligning investment and impact in LAC?
• How can development banks and Country Platforms strengthen their catalytic role in crowding in private capital for national priorities?
• Which policy tools and impact standards (MRV, disclosure, taxonomies) would enable scaling and replication of successful regional experiences?