Localizing international green finance: the case of Rwanda

This paper examines how international green finance is both shaped by and reshapes local political economies, using the case of Rwanda to illustrate these dynamics. Focusing on the Green Climate Fund (GCF) subsidy for adaptation projects in Gicumbi district in the North of the country, the paper demonstrates how national and local elites have leveraged GCF funding not only to enhance resilience against climate impacts in rural areas but also to further their interests and consolidate political authority. At the national level, this has manifested in the realignment of key policies related to adaptation, villagization, and agriculture, while also altering the distribution of power and resources among some political elite. Specifically, GCF funding has driven institutional rearrangements within the state apparatus, stifling decentralization and strengthening certain ministries and agencies at the expense of others. At the sub-national level, local governments have reinterpreted green finance frameworks to navigate local constraints and maximise political survival. This has occasionally disrupted traditional power dynamics, disempowering some segments of the local elite in favour of other actors in the small capitalist class, national elites, and security actors. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in Rwanda and policy analysis, the paper contributes to understanding how international climate finance gets localised and its capacity to alter governance structures and power relations in the Global South.