Episode 1: Penny Herbst — Do climate investment plans actually mobilise finance?

This is Episode 1 of our National Transitions Plans video series. Climate investment plans are often treated as the key to unlocking finance. But do plans alone actually mobilise investment?

In this first episode, Penny Winton draws on decades of experience in climate and development finance to unpack why increasingly complex transition plans do not automatically translate into implementation, resource mobilisation or meaningful developmental outcomes.
The conversation explores why plans do not necessarily lead to finance flows, how externally driven planning processes can weaken country ownership, and why revenue models and socio-economic priorities remain critical missing pieces.

At the heart of the conversation is a fundamental question: “Does climate investment planning lead to resource mobilisation? Not always.”