In India, hundreds of millions of people have been exposed to a deadly heat wave for nearly two months. In South Africa, rains washed away entire houses, bridges and roads, killing hundreds and making many more homeless. Tens of millions are suffering drought in the Sahel and parts of East Africa, while the South-Eastern coast of Africa is hit by intense storms. An ice shelf the size of New York City has collapsed in East Antarctica, an area thought not to be hit by climate change. These extreme climate situations emphasize how our world faces a large-scope and complex crises, creating new social challenges or significantly deepening those already present. From these events, it is clear that we need to tackle climate change in lockstep with social issues, and we need to do it fast. Well-known strategies are not sufficient to solve all of the emerging challenges effectively, given the constraints on public budgets and the shortcomings of traditional financial systems. This creates a financing gap that reflects a misallocation of global capital, compared to commitments. It has created a deep impact crisis, which requires public and private sectors to galvanize their efforts to increase awareness of climate risk and scale up financing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To tackle this financing gap, the International Climate Finance Accelerator Luxembourg (ICFA) is organizing the Impact Finance Forum 2022. We seek to connect people, facilitate discussions, and move the impact finance field forward; all in line with ICFA’s role in furthering Climate Action (SDG 13) and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17). We seek to delve into the challenges on how to tackle the pressing issues within five SDGs and collectively work on solutions to overcome these barriers during the thematic round-table discussions. Each round-table will be moderated by an experienced professional from the impact finance ecosystem. The five SDGs in focus this year are:

• Gender Equality (SDG 5)
• Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7)
• Reducing Inequalities (SDG 10)
• Climate Action (SDG 13)
• Life on Land (SDG 15)

The Impact Finance Forum will create an opportunity for pioneers and leaders in the impact finance space to share insights on key trends and challenges standing in the way of an inclusive recovery and to align on a long term view of the role that the community can and needs to play in shaping our world.

The ICFA Luxembourg held its first workshop for the 2018 Cohort applicants on March 26th, 2018. 17 applicants participated in an exciting day full of information sessions and interactive discussions around legal and regulatory structuring of funds and fund management companies, impact management and measurement, stakeholder engagement, marketing and fundraising, and had the chance to pitch their project in front of an audience of more than 50 advised experts in climate finance and fund management. A full and intense day for all applicants, allowing them to better understand the offer of the ICFA Luxembourg and the challenges of raising a climate finance fund, and to finalize their application to be part of the first cohort of climate finance fund managers that will be supported by the ICFA starting this summer.

We had an interesting and productive panel discussion at the COP23 in Bonn, as we discussed the barriers to scaling up climate finance investments and presented the International Climate Finance Accelerator Luxembourg. Many thanks to Jiwoo Choi from the Green Climate Fund, Martin Berg from the European Investment Bank (EIB), Sylvain Goupille from Althelia Ecosphere and Jenny de Nijs from the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance for their participation and valuable input. Here's Corinne Molitor from Innpact outlining the 5 Pillars of Support the ICFA will provide to its accelerated fund managers while building the Climate Finance Champions of tomorrow.