Catalytic Finance Foundation

Catalytic Finance Foundation
Type	Non-profit environmental organization
Purpose	Support sub-national governments around the world to develop and finance low-carbon and climate-resilient economic development and infrastructure projects.
Headquarters	International Environment House 2 Chemin de Balexert 7-9 1219 Vernier, Geneva, Switzerland
Location	Geneva (headquarters);
Official language	English, French
Founder	Arnold Schwarzenegger
CEO	David Albertani
Key people	David Albertani (CEO), Magnus Berntsson (Former President), Christophe Nuttall (Former Executive Director), Terry Tamminen (Former Strategic Advisor to the Founding Chair)
Website	www.catalyticfinance.org

The Catalytic Finance Foundation (Catalytic), formerly known as R20 – Regions of Climate Action (R20), is a neutral non-profit organization whose mission is to accelerate the design and deployment of catalytic finance solutions for sustainable infrastructure.

Originally founded in September 2011 by former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, with the support of the United Nations, R20 was a coalition of sub-national governments, private companies, international organizations, NGOs, and academic & financial institutions. Its mission was to accelerate sub-national infrastructure investments in the green economy to meaningfully contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The organization operated at the sub-national level as it believes sub-national governments constitute a powerful force for change and are best positioned to take action and implement green projects.

Around 2020, R20 transitioned its focus toward developing blended-finance investment funds and other catalytic finance solutions for sustainable infrastructure. This new vision and mission inspired its rebranding as the Catalytic Finance Foundation.

Mission and Methodology

Catalytic is dedicated to accelerating the design and deployment of catalytic finance solutions for sustainable infrastructure. Recognizing that addressing climate change requires immediate and collaborative action, Catalytic emphasizes the importance of uniting the public and private sectors to bridge the gap between sustainable infrastructure needs and investment risks.

By fostering partnerships among policymakers, clean technology providers, and investors, Catalytic aims to create a synergistic ecosystem that facilitates the development and financing of low-carbon, climate-resilient projects.

This integrated approach ensures that sustainable and investable infrastructure solutions become synonymous, driving meaningful progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Tackling the Investment Gap

The impacts of climate change exacerbate social and economic inequalities and threaten communities worldwide. Despite global commitments to address this challenge, traditional financing models often fall short in satisfying both the need for developing sustainable infrastructure and the risk tolerance of investors.

To this end, the Catalytic Finance Foundation aims to develop catalytic financing solutions to bridge this gap by enabling both public and private capital to flow into sustainable infrastructure projects. By providing de-risking mechanisms, financial structuring expertise, and impact-driven investment models, Catalytic makes it easier for investors and stakeholders to direct funding towards climate-positive infrastructure.

Catalytic Finance Approach

Catalytic employs an integrated value-chain approach to develop bankable, investable sustainable projects at scale. This approach ensures that climate-resilient infrastructure in sustainable energy, waste management, sanitation, and regenerative agriculture can secure long-term financial backing.

Through partnerships with investors, donors, and financial institutions, Catalytic provides solutions covering the full project lifecycle, from identification to due diligence, execution, and ongoing reporting.

How Catalytic Drives Impact

Catalytic possesses the expertise and capacity to identify, structure, and develop high-quality project pipelines while providing technical assistance to maximize feasibility and impact. Catalytic’s focus is on generating measurable environmental and social benefits alongside financial returns.

To ensure credibility and transparency, Catalytic integrates robust measurement, verification, and reporting (MRV) standards to track progress and maintain partner trust. By structuring blended-finance funds and ensuring alignment with climate action and sustainable development goals, Catalytic plays a pivotal role in scaling investment in sustainable infrastructure globally.

Governance Board

Catalytic consists of the office in Geneva, Switzerland, an advisory team in the US, and the Board which work as three complementary entities. The office carries out day-to-day operational duties, and the Board manages important investment decisions.

Previously, the founding chair of R20 was Arnold Schwarzenegger. The President was Magnus Berntsson – president of the Regional Council of Västra Götaland and president of the AER (Assembly of European Regions) and The Strategic Advisor to the Founding Chair was Terry Tamminen, former CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and the former secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Geneva Office

The Catalytic Finance Foundation is legally structured as a Swiss foundation. The governing board carries out all acts that further the purpose of the organization and is responsible for managing the organization's business.

Catalytic is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and benefits from a unique concentration of international organizations, financial institutions, NGOs and academia that the NGO can work with to further its mission.

The current Chief Executive Officer of Catalytic is David Albertani, who has served the organization since November 2021.

The Board

The Board is the entity responsible for almost all aspects of funding of Catalytic and its operations. It was created at the request of a number of investors interested to invest in Catalytic’s ecosystem of blended finance.

With a board of directors composed of green finance leaders, the Catalytic Finance Foundation meets the demands of development banks, sovereign funds, private bans, private equities, family offices and pension funds. The board is chaired by Melchior de Muralt, who also serves as the Managing Partner at de Pury Pictet Turrettini & Co in Switzerland; Terry Tamminen, the President of 7th Generation Advisors in the United States;and Dr. Barbara Buchner, Global Managing Director of the Climate Policy Initiative.

History

R20 Era (2011-2023)

During his tenure as Governor of the State of California from 2003 to 2011, Arnold Schwarzenegger was responsible for signing into law groundbreaking legislation that translated the Kyoto Protocol into Californian law. This and other initiatives is what led President Obama to ask Governor Schwarzenegger to obtain similar commitments from thirty other US States.

A. Schwarzenegger's success in implementing action at the sub-national level, and his ability to demonstrate the potential to scale this impact by replication at the sub-national level is ultimately what gave birth to the R20 Regions of Climate Action.

In December 2009, after evaluating the failure of the COP15 to agree on the practical means to limit carbon emissions, Gov. Schwarzenegger, with the support from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, decided to create a new coalition of Regions committed to action. He met with a number of heads of regions, including Governor Uduaghan from Delta State, Nigeria, President Charet from the Province of Quebec, Canada, President Huchon and Vice President Michèle Sabban from Region Ile de France, and 17 other representatives from other Regions, who all decided to create R20 Regions of Climate Action.

In September 2010, Governor Schwarzenegger organized the Third Global Governors Climate Summit in Sacramento and launched the R20 Charter, which was signed by representatives of Regions, national governments, NGOs, foundations, private companies and finance institutions. In September 2011, the First constitutive General Assembly of R20 marked the official creation of the NGO. Linda Adam, The California Environmental Protection Agency State Secretary, was officially elected president of the R20 Board and Terry Tamminen was nominated as R20 special advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger, the honorary founding chair of R20.

In January 2012, Dr. Christophe Nuttall, director of the UNDP Hub for Innovative Partnership, officially joined R20 as executive director.

From 2013 to 2017, Michèle Sabban took on the R20 presidency.

In June 2017, Magnus Berntsson, president of the Regional Council of Västra Götaland and president of AER, was elected as the new R20 president.

Since 2017, R20 organises the annual climate conference Austrian World Summit in Vienna.