Globally, buildings generate 19 percent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and consume 40 percent of electricity. The built environment is expected to double by 2050, mostly in emerging markets, raising the importance of green construction to secure lower emissions for decades.
The Market Accelerator for Green Construction Program (“MAGC”) is a blended concessional finance program that works to accelerate the construction of certified green buildings across emerging markets. The program originally aimed to mobilize $2 billion in investments to help mitigate climate change and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions directly linked to the construction sector, a goal the Program has already exceeded.
The program was launched in partnership between IFC and the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ ) in 2018, aiming to combat climate change in developing countries by crowding in public and private sector financing for certified green buildings. While IFC has a long-standing relationship with the government of the United Kingdom, MAGC was the first UK-IFC bilateral blended concessional finance partnership focused on climate change mitigation.
Priority Areas
The U.K. government’s original contribution included £102 million for blended finance investments into financial intermediaries in emerging markets. The successful performance of the program led the UK to add a further £22 million in 2023. As of 2025, MAGC had facilitated over $2.5 billion in investments across 26 green building projects in nine countries.
In addition to its investment arm, the MAGC program includes £36 million for advisory services to support business strategy, capacity building, market enabling and research to scale green construction finance. At the client level, MAGC funds support IFC staff to help FIs to create, launch and scale green construction lending products, providing technical assistance for developers, knowledge sharing workshops, and other capacity building to help financial institutions better evaluate regional green construction opportunities.
MAGC also provides key support to IFC’s Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) and other leading green building certifications. With UK support, the EDGE certification has grown significantly across sectors and geographies, with total certified real estate assets reaching over $117 billion in value as of June 2025. In parallel the program provides market-level efforts to promote the adoption of green construction and certification practices across emerging markets.
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Last updated: January 2026