GRF · Capital Nexus
Public-private cooperation
Public and private actors cooperate on capital through partnerships, guarantees, blended finance, co-investment and sponsorship of public programmes. Each arrangement shares risk and reward, and each can move costs onto the public balance sheet or weaken accountability if safeguards are missing. This page sets out the principles that govern cooperation, the fiscal and integrity risks it creates, and the evidence that ministries, regulators and boards use to manage them.
Public-private cooperation on the record.
Public-private cooperation: how the risk develops.
Safeguards for sponsorship and support. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.
Risk transfer can reverse
Partnership contracts transfer some risks to private parties, but guarantees, minimum revenue clauses and renegotiation can return them to the state. The fiscal cost often appears years after signature.
Concessionality needs justification
Blended finance uses public money to improve the risk or return for private investors. Without a clear case for additionality and minimum concessionality, subsidy can exceed what the public purpose requires.
Integrity risks rise with discretion
Unsolicited proposals, direct negotiation and sponsorship arrangements create room for conflicts of interest and capture. Competitive procedure, disclosure and independent review limit that room.
Accountability can fragment
When delivery passes to a private party, citizens and parliaments lose line of sight. Contract publication, performance reporting and grievance channels keep public accountability intact.
People and exposure in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Population density, night lights and flood water over Latin America and the Caribbean, from NASA GIBS. Each layer carries its own date.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 3
People and exposure, for this page
About this layer
- Evidence
- Estimated
- Source
- Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (NASA SEDAC (CIESIN, Columbia University))
- Provider
- NASA SEDAC (CIESIN, Columbia University)
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Vintage
- null; Census-based estimate, static (2020)
- Resolution
- about 1 km grid
- Uncertainty
- Census-based estimate of people per square kilometre in 2020, shown as exposure context; not a count of people affected by any hazard.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed
- Source
- VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2) (NASA LAADS DAAC)
- Provider
- NASA LAADS DAAC
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite radiance, corrected for moonlight and atmosphere
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-12
- Resolution
- about 500 m grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite night-time radiance for the date shown; lights are a proxy for electricity use and outages, not a measurement of supply or access.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed (clouds leave gaps)
- Source
- VIIRS Global Flood Product (NASA LANCE)
- Provider
- NASA LANCE
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite detection; clouds leave gaps
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-14
- Resolution
- about 250 m grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite detection; clouds leave gaps. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed (clouds and overpass timing leave gaps)
- Source
- VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS) (NASA LANCE FIRMS)
- Provider
- NASA LANCE FIRMS
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite detection; clouds and overpass timing leave gaps
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-13
- Resolution
- about 500 m grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite hot-spot detections for the day shown, including gas flares and industrial heat; not a confirmed fire, an incident report or a warning.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed (persistent cloud still leaves gaps)
- Source
- VIIRS NOAA-20 Level 3, 8-day (NASA LANCE)
- Provider
- NASA LANCE
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- 8-day; Satellite 8-day composite; persistent cloud still leaves gaps
- Newest at build
- 2026-09-14
- Resolution
- about 1 km grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite skin temperature of the ground over the 8 days ending on the date shown, a heat exposure indicator; not air temperature, heat index or a heat warning.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed (clouds leave gaps)
- Source
- OMI Aura (NASA GES DISC)
- Provider
- NASA GES DISC
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite retrieval; clouds leave gaps
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-10
- Resolution
- about 2 km grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite column of nitrogen dioxide in the lower atmosphere on the day shown, mostly from combustion; not a ground-level concentration or a health warning.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
Latest available
NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
Loading the latest NASA imagery.
Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.
People and exposure, framed on Latin America and the Caribbean.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.
Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONET · CIESIN/Columbia, NASA SEDAC HBASE · U.S. Geological SurveySources and licences
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). doi:10.7927/H49C6VHW. CC BY 4.0
- VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- OMI nitrogen dioxide (Aura) and OMPS aerosol index (Suomi NPP), NASA; distributed by the NASA GES DISC; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
- Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
- © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). ODbL
- Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
- Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
- Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
- Context: CIESIN/Columbia, NASA SEDAC HBASE. Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University, and NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC): Global Human Built-up And Settlement Extent (HBASE) 2010; Seto, Guneralp and Hutyra 2012, Global Grid of Probabilities of Urban Expansion to 2030; Global Urban Heat Island (UHI) Data Set, 2013.
- Live: U.S. Geological Survey Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
- NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
- Air quality forecast, 5 days, PM2.5 (CAMS via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information 2026.
- Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Optional layers (9 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.
Layers and dates
- Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
- Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
- Active fires and thermal anomalies: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
- Land surface temperature, day, 8-day composite: VIIRS NOAA-20 Level 3, 8-day, NASA LANCE · 14 Sep 2026
- Nitrogen dioxide, lower atmosphere column: OMI Aura, NASA GES DISC · 10 Oct 2026
What is measured, and how well.
Each indicator carries its unit, its cadence, the kind of source behind it and the evidence label a value would carry. No values are shown: a programme supplies them under its own authority.
| Indicator | Unit | Cadence | Source type | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partnership contracts published | percent of signed contracts | annual | Treasury PPP unit records, open contracting portals | REPORTED |
| Direct and contingent liabilities from partnerships | percent of GDP | annual | Fiscal risk statement, PFRAM-based estimates | ESTIMATED |
| Contracts renegotiated | count and share of active contracts | annual | PPP unit records | REPORTED |
| Private finance mobilised by public interventions | US dollars | annual | OECD DAC mobilisation statistics | REPORTED |
| Guarantees outstanding | national currency | annual | Debt office guarantee registers | Published statistics |
| Unsolicited proposals accepted without competition | count | annual | PPP unit and procurement records | REPORTED |
| Private participation in infrastructure commitments | US dollars | annual | World Bank PPI Database | REPORTED |
Exercise a cascade in public-private cooperation with the people who decide.
Assembled from the Nexus Standards area profile Disaster and climate risk finance: the hazards it names, the systems and communities that carry the loss, the controls and institutions that dampen it and the data that observe it. Pick an initiating event and step through the cascade to see where mandates meet and which decisions fall to whom. The Map view places the run on an example geography with open data. Every weight is a stated assumption. An exercise for dialogue, not a forecast, an assessment or a position. To model a place of your own choosing, open the full System Builder.
Hazards
- Tropical cyclone
- Earthquake
- Ice-jam flood
- Storm surge (set off downstream)
- Intense rainfall (set off downstream)
- River flood (set off downstream)
- Flash flood (set off downstream)
- Dangerous surf (set off downstream)
- Widespread power outage (set off downstream)
- Mass displacement (set off downstream)
- Coastal flood (set off downstream)
- Aftershock sequence (set off downstream)
- Fault surface rupture (set off downstream)
- Soil liquefaction (set off downstream)
- Slope slide (set off downstream)
- Rockfall (set off downstream)
- Tsunami (set off downstream)
- Building collapse (set off downstream)
Systems and couplings
Controls
NS-0Constitution and principlesNS-3Risk record UNIs (grammar, legacy crosswalk, allocation authority)NS-9Contextual UNIs (deployments, instances, programme instances)NS-10Policies and clauses (machine-readable obligations: definition, binding, evaluation and enforcement)NS-11Verification and monitoring (evidence, attestations, zero-trust conformance observation)NS-14Conformance and crosswalk to external standardsNRS-F8Parametric and index-based risk transferNRS-F7Disaster risk finance and pre-arranged financeNRS-H113Hazard family: Financial-system fragility (NHS-1 soc.financial-system)NRS-H114Hazard family: Macroeconomic and fiscal shocks (NHS-1 soc.macro-fiscal)NRS-D1Risk-informed development and project screeningNRS-H28Hazard family: Climate-state shifts (NHS-1 eco.climate-state)
Observation
- ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus Climate Data Store) (listed for reference)
- CHIRPS quasi-global gridded precipitation (listed for reference)
- USGS earthquake GeoJSON summary feeds (listed for reference)
- Total public international support for national disaster risk reduction actions (Sendai indicator F-1)
- Direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global GDP
Example geography
- Western Europe: 152 hexagonal cells
- Rain rate, last half hour (IMERG), NASA GIBS
- Night lights tonight, outages (VIIRS Day/Night Band), NASA GIBS
- Surface water through cloud, 30 m (OPERA DSWx-S1 radar), NASA GIBS
- Surface soil moisture (SMAP), NASA GIBS
Where the evidence comes from.
Named public datasets and institutional records, each with its licence class. Sources by agreement are used only under their terms and never republished.
| Source | What it gives | Licence class |
|---|---|---|
| World Bank Private Participation in Infrastructure Database | Infrastructure projects with private participation by country, sector and type | CC BY 4.0 |
| OECD DAC statistics on private finance mobilised | Amounts mobilised by public development finance interventions | CC BY 4.0 |
| IMF and World Bank PPP Fiscal Risk Assessment Model documentation | Method for estimating fiscal costs and risks of partnership projects | Free, IMF copyright and usage terms |
| World Bank Benchmarking Infrastructure Development | Regulatory quality of PPP preparation, procurement and management | CC BY 4.0 |
| National PPP unit registers and open contracting portals | Contracts, amendments, payments and performance | Open, licence per publisher |
| Debt office guarantee registers | Guarantees issued, beneficiaries and calls | Public records, terms per government |
How public-private cooperation is governed: instruments, mandates and commitments.
The instruments, mandates, actors and accountability arrangements a policymaker, diplomat or development agency works with, citing the agreements that set them. Structures follow the frameworks named. Any state or progress drawn is illustrative, not a record.
Development outcomes
The Sustainable Development Goals and targets that outcomes on public-private cooperation are reported against.
| Goal | Target | How this subject links |
|---|---|---|
| Goal 1, no poverty | Target 1.5, resilience of the poor and vulnerable | Outcomes reported through the agreed indicator of the target |
| Goal 17, partnerships for the goals | Target 17.4, long-term debt sustainability | Outcomes reported through the agreed indicator of the target |
| Goal 10, reduced inequalities | Target 10.5, regulation and monitoring of financial markets | Outcomes reported through the agreed indicator of the target |
| Goal 16, peace, justice and strong institutions | Target 16.6, effective, accountable and transparent institutions | Outcomes reported through the agreed indicator of the target |
Who decides, and what the evidence serves.
Capital Nexus prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.
| Who decides | The question | Evidence this page serves |
|---|---|---|
| Finance ministries and PPP units | Whether a project should proceed as a partnership and what fiscal exposure it creates | Value-for-money methods, PFRAM-type exposure estimates and comparator contracts |
| Debt management offices | Whether to issue a guarantee, on what terms and with what reporting | Guarantee registers, call histories and contingent liability limits |
| Parliaments and audit institutions | Whether partnership commitments and renegotiations are authorised and disclosed | Contract publication, renegotiation records and fiscal risk statements |
| Boards of development finance institutions | Whether blended finance meets additionality and minimum concessionality standards | Blended finance principles, project-level justification and evaluation |
Outputs this topic produces
- Safeguard checklists drawn from OECD PPP and blended finance principles
- Briefs on fiscal risk disclosure for partnerships and guarantees
- Dialogue papers on integrity, sponsorship and conflicts of interest
- Question sets for contract disclosure and renegotiation review
What experts ask.
- 01
What does each side bring?
Resources, data, expertise and legitimacy, and the interests behind them.
- 02
Where are the risks?
Capture of agendas, privileged access, conflicts of interest and reputational transfer.
- 03
Which safeguards work?
Disclosure, separation of funding from content, and clear rules on access and use of names.
- 04
Who checks?
How safeguards are monitored and breaches handled.
What drives the issue.
Sponsorship can shape agendas without explicit control. Topics, speakers and framing may drift toward sponsors’ interests unless rules separate funding from content.
Access is a currency. Proximity to public servants and regulators can give sponsors informational or influence advantages. Rules that prevent privileged access protect both public institutions and other firms.
Implied endorsement transfers reputation. Logos and joint branding can suggest that a public institution approves a company or product.
Competition law applies when competitors meet. Discussions among firms in the same market must avoid sharing commercially sensitive information.
Cooperation can also be done well. Clear purpose, published terms, independent review of content and a public record of who contributed what allow private knowledge and resources to serve public goals without blurring accountability.
Why now: blended finance and public-private partnerships are promoted for resilience infrastructure, but contingent liabilities and accountability are often unclear. Capital Nexus compares governance safeguards and convenes public institutions on disclosure and oversight.
How evidence is gathered, and where it stops.
| Method or data | What it shows | Its limit |
|---|---|---|
| Disclosure registers | Who funds and supports what | Show relationships, not influence |
| Conflict-of-interest declarations | Personal and institutional interests | Depend on honest declaration |
| Agenda and record review | Whether content tracks sponsor interests | Requires independent reviewers |
| Comparative policy review | Safeguards in other institutions | Practices vary widely |
How it is studied, and what the methods cannot say.
- 01Policy, institutional and decision scienceMandate and decision-rights mapping · Institutional assessment synthesisApplied here
- 02Financial economics and macro-financeDebt sustainability under stress · The sovereign and bank feedback loopApplied here
- 03Economics and development economicsAppraisal of public investment · Fiscal incidence of policy choices · Indirect costs of shocksApplied here
Questions and answers.
Do partnerships keep debt off the balance sheet?
What is additionality in blended finance?
What safeguards apply to sponsorship of public programmes?
Can a sponsor choose the speakers at a dialogue?
Can a company use the GRF name in its marketing?
How do I raise a concern about undue influence?
Contribute evidence from this page.
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Legal documents.
Show all 18 legal documents
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