Strengthening climate finance policy and institutional capacity across six Asia-Pacific countries

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Fiji, Lao PDR, and Nepal face high climate vulnerability due to their reliance on climate-sensitive livelihoods and exposure to extreme weather risks. Despite the availability of global and national frameworks, such as the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), implementation remains fragmented in these geographies. Policy ecosystems are often weak. Institutional capacity to design and implement inclusive climate finance is limited, and financial systems struggle to translate climate priorities into viable investment pipelines. As a result, adaptation finance flows remain insufficient and misaligned with local needs.

The Inclusive Climate Finance for Vulnerable Communities in the Asia-Pacific (ICCAP) initiative brought together the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), the Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA), and Appui au Développement Autonome (ADA) as a multi-country and multi-package program to address these gaps. It sought to catalyze more than EUR 250 million in public and private finance. The project worked to strengthen the pipeline from policy to capital to last-mile delivery, so that funds reach vulnerable communities. The Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA) engaged MSC as an international consultant to provide technical leadership on the policy and institutional backbone of the initiative.

Since 2025, MSC has been supporting national consultants under the ICCAP initiative on policy and regulatory diagnostics, stakeholder engagement, and knowledge synthesis through a four-phase approach:

  1. Diagnostics and mapping: Review of policy and regulatory frameworks, identification of gaps, and stakeholder mapping;
  2. Benchmarking and design: Synthesis of global best practices and development of country-specific policy recommendations and action plans;
  3. Engagement and cocreation: Ongoing policy dialogue, validation of findings, and co-development of solutions with stakeholders;
  4. Capacity building and scale: Strengthening of institutional capacity through training, regional exchange, and support for policy adoption and implementation.

Through this approach, MSC supports countries to move from fragmented policy environments toward more coherent, evidence-based, and implementation-ready climate finance systems that can better channel resources to vulnerable communities.

The Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA) and the International Climate Initiative (IKI) commissioned this project.

Strengthening district-level climate adaptation planning and financing in the states of Jharkhand and Odisha in India

India is highly vulnerable to climate change and ranks ninth among the countries most affected between 1995 and 2024, as per the Climate Risk Index 2026. More than 75% of the districts in India face high exposure to climate risks, such as floods, droughts, cyclones, and heatwaves.

India has strong national- and state-level climate policies, such as the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCCs), and District Disaster Management Plans (DDMPs). However, efforts at the district level remain constrained and fragmented due to limited evidence and a lack of granular data. Public budgets alone are insufficient to cover the rapidly growing costs of climate adaptation, which is estimated to reach USD 1 trillion by 2030. Furthermore, coordination with the private sector remains limited. These create a gap between climate risks, planning, and actual investments.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the NITI Aayog and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), engaged MSC to address these gaps. The initiative sought to strengthen climate adaptation planning and financing at the district level, with a focus on two districts each in Jharkhand and Odisha.

MSC followed a four-phase approach:

  • Phase 1 covered literature review, district selection, and development of the assessment framework.
  • Phase 2 focused on district-level analysis of climate risks, vulnerabilities, economic impacts, and financing gaps.
  • Phase 3 involved ways to identify and prioritize key adaptation interventions across sectors.
  • Phase 4 developed a clear adaptation financing strategy roadmap, which included funding sources and implementation pathways.

MSC analyzed national and global climate adaptation frameworks, assessed state-level climate finance landscapes, and developed a district-level assessment methodology that integrated climate science, GIS-based spatial analysis, and economic modeling.

The project sought to generate evidence to support actionable financing pathways by linking adaptation priorities with funding sources and instruments. It produced district-level adaptation financing strategies and a pipeline of adaptation projects to improve district planning, strengthen institutions, and mobilize finance for climate-resilient development.

The UNDP commissioned the project in partnership with the NITI Aayog and the FCDO.

Indonesia: Gender-disaggregated analysis of bank agents network (2025)

Indonesia hosts one of the world’s largest agent network ecosystems, with both bank-led and non-bank providers playing a critical role in expanding access to digital financial services. It is estimated that the country has more than two million agents, with women representing more than 50% of the network. Despite this strong representation, women agents often face structural and operational challenges that limit their ability to realize their full potential, even though they can serve as vital channels for delivering affordable financial services to last-mile communities. 

MSC conducted a gender-disaggregated data (GDD) analysis across both a leading bank-led agent network and a prominent non-bank agent network provider in Indonesia. The objective was to better understand the performance of female agents across different operating models and identify gender-specific challenges and opportunities that influence their performance and sustainability. 

MSC analyzed gender-disaggregated performance data to compare outcomes between female and male agents across the two networks. The analysis examined key indicators such as transaction volumes, activity levels, and operational sustainability. To complement the quantitative analysis, MSC conducted qualitative interviews with female agents and field officers to better understand the operational realities faced by women agents, including intersecting barriers related to liquidity, mobility, business capacity, social norms, and support systems. 

Based on the findings, MSC developed targeted and actionable recommendations to help providers strengthen the performance and sustainability of female agents within their networks. The study generated evidence to support more gender-responsive strategies for agent recruitment, support, and retention, while also laying the groundwork for institutionalizing gender-disaggregated data analysis in agent network management. 

The Gates Foundation commissioned the project.  

Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria: Scaling female agent networks

Despite global evidence that female agents drive higher trust, attract more women customers, and often outperform male counterparts on key service indicators, female agents are significantly underrepresented in global agent networks. They actively face structural barriers such as limited access to capital, weak institutional use of gender data, and restrictive social norms, which further constrain their recruitment, retention, and business viability.

This project was designed to address these systemic bottlenecks and accelerate progress toward closing the gender gap in active use of digital financial services. 

Through this project, MSC is working to scale proven models that recruit, support, and sustain female CICO agents in Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Indonesia by addressing systemic bottlenecks. The project focuses on three pillars:

  • designing and scaling gender-intentional liquidity and working capital solutions for female agents, including credit scoring tools and tailored loan products;  
  • supporting financial service providers to collect and use gender-disaggregated data (GDD) to improve recruitment, segmentation, performance management, and retention; and  
  • Integrating social and gender norms into recruitment, onboarding, training, and grievance redressal systems.

The project combines technical assistance, pilot scale-up support, monitoring and evaluation, and ecosystem-level knowledge dissemination for key financial service providers across the three markets.

The project aims to directly impact approximately 350,000 female agents by improving access to capital, increasing revenues, strengthening retention, and reducing dormancy. In turn, it is expected to benefit at least 1 million low-income women customers by expanding access to trusted, gender-sensitive financial services through strengthened agent networks.

The Gates Foundation commissioned the project. 

Optimizing Banks’ last-mile delivery channel in India

Public and private sector banks are key players in the delivery of digital financial services (DFS) at the last mile in India. However, persistent challenges, such as agent network viability, service quality, liquidity constraints, and limited digital adoption, undermine the effectiveness of these channels. MSC (MicroSave Consulting) collaborated with leading banks, such as the State Bank of India (SBI), the Indian Bank, the Bank of India (BOI), HDFC Bank, and Yes Bank, to diagnose and improve DFS delivery through strategic agent network interventions.

  • For SBI, BOI, and Indian Bank, MSC redesigned the agent lifecycle, from onboarding to grievance resolution, which led to stronger service reliability across 120,000+ agents.
  • For Yes Bank, MSC scoped digital payment adoption in the dairy value chain in Odisha, which helps farmers transition to cash-lite systems.
  • With HDFC Bank, MSC enhanced its rural initiative by refining products for agri and dairy customers and upgrading training and communication for agents.

Collectively, these interventions advanced scalable, inclusive banking across rural India.