ECA GBAC Newsletter – July 2021

The huge untapped potential for climate investments in Europe and Central Asia presents a significant business opportunity for financial institutions in the region. Yet, many banks still don’t have a clearly defined vision and a targeted strategy for developing their climate finance business. To help the banking sector in ECA speed up the green transformation, IFC has launched the Green Banking Academy (GBAC) – an online knowledge and capacity building platform designed to help financial institutions learn about green banking and build green portfolios. GBAC provides specialized training programs and tailored advisory services. The program also offers knowledge sharing events on current topics of climate finance with internationally renowned experts. Read more

GBAC provides customized training, advisory and investment services to support financial institutions at each step on their path to the green transformation. GBAC’s Climate Finance Roadmap outlines the services, tools and resources a financial institution will have access to through the program. The Roadmap is segmented along six focus areas that are critical for creating a viable climate finance business. These include Diagnostics, Strategy, Capacity Building, Products & Tools, “On-the-Job” Expertise Development, and Marketing. Read more

For its climate finance business to be sustainable, a financial institution should be able to determine whether investments are “green” and to forecast the impact of these investments in reducing GHG emissions. One of the services available through GBAC is the use of IFC’s climate investments measurement tool, CAFI. CAFI enables financial institutions to track the share of green investments in their portfolio and produce impact reports, estimating the positive impact these investments will have on the environment. Read more

In Europe and Central Asia, the interest in green bonds among the financial community is quite high, and several banks have already made their first issuances of green bonds. Some of those have been implemented with support from IFC. A recent example is the IFC’s landmark deal in Romania where IFC in partnership with Raiffeisen Bank supported the issuance of the country’s first ever green bond. Read more

Join us for an online discussion to learn how financial institutions can use big data to scale up climate investments. IFC’s Head of Climate Finance Peter Cashion will open the event. Maria Teresa Zappia from BlueOrchard will talk about the role of big data in scaling up sustainable finance. IFC’s climate finance experts Gursimran Rooprai and Martin Dasek will tell how financial institutions can evaluate the impact of their climate finance projects.

Recording of the event

This online event will explore main trends in today’s global green bond market and evaluate the business opportunity that green bonds present for banks in ECA. The event will feature internationally recognized experts in the green bond space: Esohe Denise Odaro, Head of Investor Relations at IFC, and Marc Granville and Özgür Altun from the International Capital Market Association. The session will include a panel discussion where executives from several banks from the region will reflect on their experience in the issuance of green bonds.

Recording of the event

• State & Trends of Carbon Pricing 2021 (World Bank)
• The Power of Batteries to Expand Renewable Energy in Emerging Markets (Emerging Energy Solutions Series, IFC)
• Will Sustainability-Linked Loans Drive a Revolution in Finance? (GreenBiz)