How Can Development Finance Align Climate and Nature Action at Scale? With Lori Kerr of FinDev Canada

At the World Climate Investment Summit during London Climate Action Week, we spoke with Lori Kerr, CEO of FinDev Canada, about how development finance is evolving, as climate risk, biodiversity loss, and economic resilience become inseparable.

Rather than focusing only on emissions, FinDev Canada is reshaping how capital flows into emerging markets, embedding nature, adaptation, and resilience directly into its climate strategy.

In the conversation, Kerr explores:

• Why nature is no longer a “nice to have” in climate finance, but a core economic dependency that shapes risk, returns, and long-term development outcomes.

• How development finance can mobilise private capital in places most exposed to climate impacts, while still supporting viable, scalable markets.

• What it takes to move from climate pledges to implementation, particularly in least developed countries, where adaptation and resilience are critical.

• Why blended finance will be essential to closing the climate finance gap, and how new platforms are being designed to scale impact rather than pilot projects.

  
  

As the global economy confronts overlapping climate and nature crises, Kerr offers a clear perspective on what meaningful climate finance looks like in practice:

“The question is no longer how much nature we need. The answer is 100%. A hundred percent of the economy depends a hundred percent on nature.”

The interview reflects a broader shift underway, from climate as a standalone issue to climate and nature as two sides of the same economic challenge.

The World Climate Foundation is committed to partnering with institutions accelerating the transition towards climate-resilient, nature-positive economies.

Watch Lori Kerr’s full interview here:

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Lori Kerr, Chief Executive Officer FinDev Canada

Lori Kerr joined FinDev Canada as Chief Executive Officer in June 2021. A Canadian national, she is a widely experienced international development finance professional with more than two decades of leadership in private investment in emerging markets with a focus on sustainable infrastructure, climate finance, and blended finance.

Ms. Kerr joined FinDev Canada by way of the Global Infrastructure Facility at the World Bank in Washington, DC, where she was responsible for corporate strategy, thought leadership, partnerships, and international engagement for the largest global fund advising developing country governments on the preparation and structuring of commercially viable infrastructure projects.

Previously, Ms. Kerr served as Senior Director at Climate Finance Advisors developing low-carbon, climate-resilient investment strategies and blended finance solutions to mobilize private capital in developing countries. She also spent 18 years at the Inter-American Development Bank Group serving in management and senior investment roles where she spearheaded strategic initiatives to support the expansion and development impact of private sector activities as well as private sector transaction origination, structuring, and asset management. Ms. Kerr also spent 14 years as an Adjunct Professor of International Project Finance and Investment at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Kerr holds an Honours Bachelor degree from the University of Western Ontario and an International

MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University.