The UK and the Philippines have partnered to launch a groundbreaking initiative to channel more global capital into emerging markets.
The 'EMDE Public Markets Coalition' was unveiled at the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) in Seville this July, as part of a Sevilla Platform for Action Initiative on 'Public Markets Mobilisation for Development. This initiative aims to redirect a portion of the $255 trillion flowing through listed equity and bond markets toward crucial development projects in emerging markets and developing economies.
With only a small fraction of global public market investments currently reaching emerging economies like the Philippines, even a modest shift could transform financing for climate resilience and sustainable development projects. The Coalition will develop a Toolkit to guide development banks, finance institutions, and investors in mobilizing climate and development investments in emerging markets through public markets. This will help direct more capital to the Philippines and and similar economies.
The Government of the Philippines endorses the initiative, co-hosted its FFD4 launch event, and will play a key role in its implementation. The initiative will be co-implemented by the Government of Norway and the African Development Bank (AfDB). It has also received endorsement from the Governments of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), British International Investment (BII) and the Centre for Development Finance Studies (CDFS).
Undersecretary Joven Balbosa of the Philippines' Department of Finance said:
The Philippines is proud to continue our partnership with the UK to mobilise finance toward sustainable development and climate action. Public markets are powerful vehicles for mobilisation, with both equity and debt financing proving crucial in meeting climate and development targets.
The Rt Hon Baroness Chapman of Darlington, UK Minister for International Development, highlighted the coalition's significance:
We need to see a transformation in how the public and private sectors work together to mobilise capital to power development progress. Even a small shift in the way this money is invested could unlock massive change and new opportunities for investors, ensuring more countries, communities, and businesses have the finance they need to solve the most difficult development challenges.
Commissioner McJill Bryant Fernandez of the Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission noted that:
The launch of the EMDE Public Markets Coalition is a timely step toward mobilizing global capital for sustainable development. For the Philippines, improving market access and de-risking investments enable more Filipino enterprises to secure long-term financing for climate-smart growth. We hope to see more countries and partners join us in scaling this agenda to create transformative change across emerging markets.
The initiative aligns with the UK Government's Plan for Change, which aims to make Britain a clean energy superpower while helping partners, like the Philippines, build climate resilience.
British Ambassador to the Philippines Laure Beaufils highlighted the strong partnership between the UK and the Philippines:
I am proud that the UK and Philippines have teamed up to show how public markets can boost financing for sustainable development projects, thereby driving quantifiable, lasting change. Together, we have shown that the public sector has a role to play in facilitating this, by creating robust ecosystems that enable more private capital to be redirected to sustainable investments.
The UK's MOBILIST programme, which provides capital and technical assistance to support companies in emerging markets to list on stock exchanges, serves as a foundation for the new coalition. This approach has already proven effective in channelling institutional investment toward development projects. In 2024, MOBILIST invested $12.5 million in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Citicore Renewables Energy Corporation, a renewable energy developer and operator of solar, hydro, and wind energy platforms in the Philippines. MOBILIST's investment played a catalytic role in the IPO, which was valued at a total of $86 million and also attracted private institutional investors.
