Throughout April 2026, the Mitigation Action Facility participated in several high-level international events, reinforcing its role in advancing climate action and sustainable industrial transformation.
The Sustainable Cooling Forum and the International Vienna Energy and Climate Forum
Organised by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Sustainable Cooling Forum focused on accelerating the global transition to sustainable cooling technologies. From 8-10 April, the event convened UNIDO Member States, technology innovators, and financial institutions to explore integrated and scalable solutions. The Mitigation Action Facility was represented by Juan David Jaramillo Salamanca, Sector Lead for Renewable Energy and Advisor at the Technical Support Unit (TSU).
From 9–10 April, Juan David also participated in the International Vienna Energy and Climate Forum 2026, also held in Vienna. Organised by UNIDO, the forum is a leading global platform for advancing just and inclusive energy and climate transitions. This year’s discussions centred on practical, gender-responsive, and socially equitable solutions, with particular attention to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Access to finance remains a major barrier to scaling green industrial solutions and energy-efficient cooling across many developing and emerging economies. The Mitigation Action Facility’s participation in these events aimed to share its experience in designing and supporting projects that establish robust financial structures capable of attracting the investment needed to scale low-emission technologies in the industrial sector.
“The Mitigation Action Facility offers a significant amount of funding to the decarbonisation of industries and the scaling of innovative climate solutions through projects that validate technical feasibility and develop pathways for commercial scalability.”
Paul Durrant, UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
A central takeaway highlighted by Juan David during his intervention is the importance of engaging local financial sectors. Ensuring that financing continues beyond donor-funded interventions is critical, as is leveraging existing relationships between industries and local financial institutions.
Mitigation Action Facility projects promote Financial Cooperation (FC) instruments designed to close the financing gap and make decarbonisation investments bankable. These include incentives for early adopters, mechanisms to lower borrowing costs, and risk-sharing approaches with local lenders. Ultimately, according to Juan David, the goal is to catalyse private investment and demonstrate that both the technologies and business models for industrial decarbonisation are commercially viable.
“For investing in industrial decarbonisation, financial institutions require a manageable level of risk, therefore it is important to have available measures that help reducing the risk by either advancing the technology from early demonstration stage or by providing risk-mitigation measures.”
Lisbeth Kronsteiner, Austrian Development Bank
The A2D Facility Annual Event
At the Accelerate-to-Demonstrate (A2D) Facility Annual Event 2026, the Mitigation Action Facility contributed to key discussions on how finance and data systems can accelerate the transition from pilot projects to scalable climate solutions in developing countries. From 13–16 April, the event convened key stakeholders from across the climate innovation ecosystem to exchange knowledge, foster collaboration, and scale solutions for sustainable industrial development.
During a closed-door finance roundtable, TSU Advisor Mónica Silva González shared the Mitigation Action Facility’s experience in supporting Lighthouse Pilot Projects: innovative solutions with strong potential for replication and scale. She highlighted approaches such as blended finance, risk-sharing mechanisms, and catalytic capital as critical tools to support demonstration-stage projects and crowd in investment. Drawing on practical experience, including the Brazil – Industrial Energy Efficiency project, she outlined key success factors: building a strong project pipeline, reducing technical and financial risks, supporting both financial institutions and businesses, and anchoring interventions in public policy to ensure long-term impact.
“What we see in the Mitigation Action Facility is that scaling doesn’t happen just because a technology works — it happens when projects are designed with a clear market and financing pathway from the start.”
Mónica Silva González, TSU Advisor
In a subsequent panel on scaling climate innovation, Mónica emphasised that successful scale-up depends not only on proven technologies but on early integration of viable financing pathways with a market demand perspective. Combining targeted technical assistance with tailored financial instruments at the demonstration stage is essential, while long-term success requires solid business cases, enabling financial conditions, and integration within broader market and regulatory ecosystems.
The importance of robust Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) systems was further highlighted by Andrea Ortega Fuerte, TSU Advisor. Moving beyond compliance, MEL was presented as a strategic tool to generate evidence, reduce investment risk, and build trust among stakeholders. High-quality data can help demonstrate commercial and technical viability, distinguish truly transformational “lighthouse” projects, and facilitate partnerships with private financiers and multilateral development banks.
“It is unfortunate that MEL is often treated as a reporting obligation, when in reality it is such an underrated powerful, evidence-generating tool that reduces risk, builds trust and drives scalable, well-designed projects – provided it is embedded from the outset, strategically supported at the institutional level, and backed by strong translation of data into actionable evidence.”
Andrea Ortega Fuerte, TSU Advisor
A key message from the session was that embedding the human dimension early in project design strengthens both impact and scalability. Treating communities as active partners rather than as a late-stage consideration can improve project outcomes, enhance stakeholder engagement, and reduce implementation risks. At the same time, flexible and adaptive MEL frameworks are needed to balance context-specific insights with the comparability required by international stakeholders.
From left to right: Ruben Goldsztayn (ANDI), Andrea Ortega Fuerte (TSU), Mercy Masanga (Ubuntu Energy) and Megan Laws (DESNZ).