Climate services as governance infrastructure for institutional and financial reform in emerging economies

Emerging economies face escalating climate risks, yet many lack the institutional coherence, fiscal capacity, regulatory stability, and data governance arrangements needed to deliver effective climate services. This Perspective argues that advancing climate services in these contexts requires reframing them not as technical data systems alone, but as governance infrastructures shaped by institutional mandates, financial mechanisms, policy coherence, and public accountability. We contend that green financial instruments, such as carbon pricing, sustainability-linked bonds, and blended finance, can support climate-information platforms, risk-assessment tools, and long-term adaptation planning when embedded in credible governance systems. Equally important is institutional innovation, including decentralized governance, cross-sectoral coordination, public oversight, and structured public–private partnerships, which can enhance the usability, legitimacy, equity, and contextual relevance of climate information. Drawing on policy illustrations from India, Bangladesh, and South Africa, this Perspective shows how fiscal reforms, legal mandates, and multilevel governance arrangements can embed climate services within budgeting, planning, and regulatory systems. The analysis also cautions that climate services may reproduce exclusion if political resistance, elite capture, proprietary data systems, and unequal access are not addressed. By integrating financial innovation with institutional reform and coherent policy design, this Perspective presents a governance roadmap for scaling equitable, resilient, and future-ready climate services in emerging economies.