Private investment fund the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) calls on asset owners and asset managers to direct more finance to emerging markets and developing economies.

Financial products and blended finance can be leveraged to galvanise greater sums of private investment for vital infrastructure, thereby providing energy access, transport and logistics, resilient cities, and water and natural resource management in emerging markets and developing economies.

Standardisation could also drive investment in these markets, it says in the 'PIDG Sustainability and Impact Report 2024'.

“Progressive action is an imperative. Asset managers, insurers and banks collectively hold deep pools of capital and are positioned to provide practical and replicable solutions that shape global growth and positively change lives,” says PIDG CEO Philippe Valahu.

“They can back large-scale climate and nature projects and earn positive returns, as evidenced in PIDG’s 2024 Sustainability and Impact Report.”

The group's activities directly benefit communities and investors in emerging markets and developing economies and deliver impact over the longer term, he says.

“We are creating opportunities for win-win partnerships that fuel domestic growth, drive scale, enhance transparency and direct climate finance to where it is needed most. The time for active collaboration is now,” he adds.

Additionally, emerging markets and developing economies currently account for about 75% of global emissions and encompass many of the world's most climate-vulnerable regions, the PIDG report shows.

Without strategies and coordinated efforts to mitigate risks, including climate-related events, the stability of returns and asset values globally poses a significant threat to institutional investors' portfolios, the group points out.

Further, the report shows that, since 2002, PIDG-supported projects have mobilised a total of $47.2-billion, including $29.8-billion from the private sector.

In 2024, PIDG secured a total of $5.5-billion in investment across 25 projects, with $4.1-billion invested by the private sector.

PIDG is a member of the UK emerging markets and developing economies Investor Taskforce to support global economic growth and tackle climate change. It plays a key role in bringing the financial industry together to accelerate climate action and sustainable development.