Lessons learnt from climate finance units (CFUs) across the world: best practices for Nepal

This policy brief outlines options for Nepal's CFU to effectively implement its mandate and functions. It recognises that operationalising a CFU is a gradual process, requiring significant institutional and technical groundwork behind the scenes, and that CFUs are typically small units tasked with delivering complex and wide-reaching objectives, which can be demanding for their teams.

The brief recommends that Nepal ensure the CFU is supported by an optimal institutional structure and a clearly defined mandate. Assessing the current team's capacity and support needs, alongside planning for the CFU's long-term sustainability, will help safeguard its continuity through changes in administration and donor priorities. While the unit must be equipped with robust systems and the right skill sets, the brief stresses that the CFU is ultimately a conduit for climate finance and cannot operate in isolation: as with all successful climate finance initiatives globally, its effectiveness will depend on collective and cross-government efforts.