MDB reform mandates

• All MDBs to have approved ambitious targets around climate finance in their mandates and strategic plans.
• Smaller PDBs, including regional, national, and sub-national development banks, begin to integrate explicit climate efforts in their mandates and strategic plans.

Each MDB is governed by its own mandate which outlines priorities and operational guidelines for the bank. While MDBs are working towards operating more efficiently as a system, differing mandates result in a range of approaches to climate issues. As one of the more successful efforts around MDB reform, all of the major MDBs have adopted climate and/or global challenges into their mandates, paving the way for increased climate finance and mutually aligned efforts from these banks.

A number of Mutual Reliance Agreements (MRAs) have come into effect in 2025 that enable MDB’s to optimize efforts on collaboration, efficiency and scaling up. The model works on a ‘lead financier' basis whereby one MDB may take the role as lead lender and its respective due diligence standards are used e.g. safeguards, procurement and reporting. This approach simplifies processes and avoids duplication amongst MDBs. For example, the ADB and World Bank signed a Full Mutual Reliance Framework (FMRF) in February 2025.