Climate and resource efficiency

Sustainable development requires consideration of the climate dimension and the efficient use of resources. That is why SECO is committed to promoting the reduction of greenhouse gases, the adaptation to climate change and the sustainable management of resources in its partner countries.

The effects of climate change have hit developing countries particularly hard. Storms, flooding and droughts put the progress of recent decades in the fight against poverty at risk. In addition to this, developing countries are contributing more and more to greenhouse gas emissions; in fact, they are already responsible for more than half of global emissions.  

The climate is one of the four focus areas of Switzerland’s strategy for international cooperation 2021–2024. SECO contributes to the implementation of the Paris Agreement by systematically factoring in the risks for the climate, opportunities for promoting climate- and environmentally-friendly investments and measures for adapting to climate change when conceiving and monitoring its projects.


SECO is dedicated to promoting environmentally friendly growth in developing and emerging economies.


Climate financing

SECO contributes to the climate financing goals of the Paris Agreement by implementing projects that  

  • promote integrated urban development that reduces the impact on the climate (e.g., by fostering clean, safe and efficient mobility) and that is resistant to the impact of climate change (e.g., by taking into account the risk of flooding in urban planning);
  • encourage resource-efficient production processes (e.g., by reducing the consumption of energy and water in industrial processes with the Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme implemented with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, UNIDO);
  • support the development of renewable energies (e.g., by scaling up renewable energies with the Scaling-Up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries Program, SREP);
  • promote the sustainable management of natural resources, for instance through sustainable value chains (e.g., the sustainable production of cocoa with the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa support programme);
  • support the development of green funding schemes through professional training and the creation of reliable framework conditions (e.g., the IFC Green Bond Technical Assistance Program, GB-TAP);
  • better incorporate climate considerations in national budgets and public investments as well as fiscal policy (e.g., carbon taxes).   

Mobilisation of private sector financing

SECO is turning increasingly to the private sector to secure climate and environmentally friendly investments in developing countries. In order to do so, it collaborates with associations, private investors, asset managers, insurance companies and other actors from the Swiss financial community.

A collaborative endeavour

SECO works closely with partners such as multilateral development banks, the World Bank, and other international organisations. It participates in the development and revision of climate strategies and the funding of climate programmes. By participating in climate negotiations within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, SECO also influences the world climate agenda.   

Last modification 25.01.2024

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