Invite only closed-door roundtable
10 November 2026, 09:00-10:00 local time
Climate Action Innovation Zone, Antalya, Türkiye
Held at the margins of COP31 in Antalya, the Centre for Economic Transition Expertise (CETEx) and UK EMDE Investor Taskforce are convening an invitation only closed-door roundtable, to explore the role of credit ratings in scaling blended finance and mobilising private capital for climate and sustainable development in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). The roundtable will bring together senior practitioners and decision-makers from multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, private financial institutions, credit rating agencies and governments.
The roundtable will introduce CETEx’s Credit Ratings Sandbox, a pioneering initiative launched in autumn 2026 that provides a practical mechanism for transaction sponsors, multilateral and development finance institutions (MDBs/DFIs), institutional investors and credit rating agencies to work through the challenges of securing credit ratings for blended finance transactions and turn the findings into guidance for the wider market.
As COP31 focuses on turning climate finance commitments into action, mobilising at least US$1.3 trillion annually for developing countries by 2035 will require new ways to unlock private capital. Blended finance can help bridge that gap; however, transactions still fail to attract institutional capital at the scale required. Credit ratings can help connect blended finance vehicles with institutional investors. The Credit Ratings Sandbox offers a practical, near-term tool to identify barriers and explore solutions that can help mobilise that investment at scale.
The session will be chaired by Michael Wilkins, Visiting Senior Fellow at CETEx and Credit Rating Agency Workstream Lead at EMDE Investor Taskforce, with contributions from Mo Saffar, Head of Private Capital Mobilisation at CETEx and Marta Kozielska, Impact Lead, Private Capital Mobilisation at CETEx, alongside international perspectives from participants working across development, blended finance and policy.
The discussion forms part of the broader work of CETEx’s Blended Finance Lab, which focuses on addressing the institutional, market and policy constraints limiting the mobilisation of private capital for climate action and sustainable development in EMDEs.
The EMDE Investor Taskforce similarly has credit ratings as one of its five focus areas, bringing investors and credit rating agencies together to improve understanding of ratings methodologies for EMDE transactions through practical tools and guidance such as the CRA Methodology Mapping & Diagnostic.
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