Entry point
Country programme and partner MDB
Funding field guide
CIF: find your place in a country investment plan.
Climate Investment Funds financing is generally organised through programmes and partner development banks. The practical question is how a project fits that country and programme pipeline.
Start here
Is this a plausible route?
Reviewed 26 September 2026
The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) use concessional resources with partner multilateral development banks (MDBs). For the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), official governance guidance describes country-led investment planning followed by project development through the banks.
Preparation level
Investment plan and individual project
Finance
Programme- and transaction-specific terms
Access
Who takes the proposal forward?
Programme and country
Identify the CIF programme, country participation and responsible public institutions. Check whether an investment plan is being prepared or implemented.
Country-led planning
Understand the priorities, consultations and proposed investment pipeline with the partner MDBs.
Project preparation
Test whether the project fits an identified investment. Develop technical, economic, financial and environmental/social work with the relevant bank.
Separate decisions
Programme/fund decisions and the bank’s project approval, contracting and disbursement requirements need to be satisfied.
Start with CIF — Clean Technology Fund governance framework.
Preparation
What to prepare before a full proposal
A place in the programme
Name the investment-plan priority your project addresses. Explain the connection to country policy and other planned investments.
A case for concessional support
Describe the market or institutional barrier and why ordinary finance is insufficient. Show what support changes and how dependence on it could decline.
A bank-ready preparation plan
Identify feasibility, borrower/sponsor, counterpart funding, procurement, safeguards and institutional work still required.
Benefits beyond one asset
Explain plausible replication, system change or market effects, with indicators and assumptions. Separate ambition from evidence that the effect will occur.
Make a simple readiness list: for each item, record the evidence available, the unresolved question, the responsible person and the next decision. This is an advisory checklist, not an official application form.
Two decisions
Track two levels of preparation
| Level | Main question | Evidence to bring |
|---|---|---|
| Country investment plan | What package of investments supports the programme’s country objectives? | Priority barriers, consultation, pipeline, responsible institutions and partner MDBs. |
| Individual project | Can this investment be delivered under acceptable financing and risk arrangements? | Sponsor/borrower, feasibility, financing structure, safeguards, procurement and measurable results. |
The CTF governance framework is the basis for the country-planning example here. Other CIF programmes may differ. The Kenya Nature, People and Climate investment plan illustrates programme preparation in a real country; it is not an application invitation. CIF — Clean Technology Fund governance framework; CIF — Kenya Nature, People and Climate investment plan
Put it into practice
An industrial decarbonisation investment
Illustrative example · This explains preparation choices; it is not an approved or available funding offer.
A project may need both equipment finance and changes in skills, standards or grid access. Its case should connect those needs to the programme’s country priorities. A stand-alone equipment list does not explain how the investment removes a wider barrier or fits the bank’s pipeline.
Common questions
Questions worth resolving early
Can I send a generic application straight to CIF?
Start with the responsible programme and partner bank. Check whether there is a relevant country selection, programme call or investment pipeline, rather than assuming a universal direct application.
Does investment-plan endorsement approve every project?
No. Programme-level endorsement and individual project financing are different decisions. The relevant bank and CIF programme determine the subsequent steps.
How much can a project receive?
There is no useful universal CIF project ceiling for this guide. Obtain the specific programme allocation, project envelope, instrument and terms from the responsible bank.
Official sources
Read the guidance for the decision you are making
Reviewed 26 September 2026. The notes distinguish retrieved documents from official indexed extracts and unresolved details. Our diagrams and examples explain preparation choices; they are not official approval charts.
- CIF — Clean Technology Fund governance framework
Official indexed passages on country access and country-led investment plans reviewed. Full retrieval restricted; these CTF arrangements are not every CIF programme’s rules.
- CIF — Kenya Nature, People and Climate investment plan
Official indexed plan illustrates programme-level preparation and community participation; it is a country example, not a call for applications.
- World Bank — project cycle
Borrower and Bank roles, preparation/appraisal and financing-specific risk frameworks reviewed.
Work with the practice
Turn the guide into a useful next step
Start with a non-confidential description of the country, project owner, climate problem and decision needed. We can help organise the evidence and compare preparation options; the fund or financier decides access and approval.
