Exploring the critical success factors on climate finance for sustainable infrastructure projects

Purpose The frequency and severity of climate change-induced disasters against infrastructure projects have risen in recent times. Extreme weather conditions create floods, wildfires, hurricanes and typhoons which completely or partly destroy infrastructure projects such as roads, hospitals and power stations. As these climate change events intensify, climate finance has become an essential and innovative financial solution to achieve climate-resilient infrastructure projects. Thus, this study aims at exploring the critical success factors of climate finance for sustainable infrastructure projects. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire data were taken from stakeholders on infrastructure projects in different countries, and it was analysed with fuzzy synthetic method. Findings The critical success factors from the data analysis include financial resilience strategies, decarbonization of economies, low interest rates, carbon-stranded assets, risk management, renewable energy and sustainable economic growth. Research limitations/implications Even though, the study presents important success factors on climate finance solutions for infrastructure development, further studies should delve into the differences of the factors based on location (country or region), project type and other conditions. Practical implications The results provide actionable information for policymakers, infrastructure professionals and financial institutions. The study gives insights into the checklists of social, ecological and economic practices on climate finance factors in infrastructure projects. Originality/value This article offers insights into success factors on climate finance from stakeholders on the key measures on the adoption of climate finance for sustainable infrastructure projects. Additionally, as the first of its kind, the study bridges the theory-practice gap with the application of fuzzy method which translates loosely related opinions of professionals on climate finance success factors into objective decision-making solutions for infrastructure projects.