Sustainable Finance
How Rwanda’s inaugural Sustainability-Linked Bond broke new ground in leveraging private capital
In the sphere of sustainable development, financial innovation is not just an advantage—it’s a necessity. The Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) recently issued its first Sustainability-Linked Bond (SLB), setting several precedents along the way, including being the first development bank globally to do so.
How blue finance is helping the private sector in Türkiye to relieve the pressure of water scarcity
Türkiye is under high levels of water stress, with 40-88% of its renewable water supply used annually. Development financing provides an opportunity for the private sector to address water scarcity and challenges around it. A blue finance loan by IFC has improved water efficiency in Türkiye’s industrial sector. Click for the full story on IFC.org
6 Reasons Why Social Metrics Matter in Sustainability-Linked Finance
Newsflash: Sustainability-Linked Finance (SLF) isn’t just about climate. In fact, leading infrastructure companies like Brazil-based energy firm Neoenergia and global mining consortium, Anglo American are embracing the use of key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure their social performance, as part of their SLF frameworks. These social metrics must meet strict requirements to ensure relevance, benchmarkability, […]
Social or stakeholder? The S in ESG is evolving to encompass more than social considerations
It is frequently asserted that the S in ESG is difficult to define and monitor for impact. BNP Paribas’ 2019 global ESG survey shows that 46% of investors surveyed deemed the ‘S’ to be the most challenging to analyze and incorporate into investing strategies. I frequently made light of the fact that ‘social’ was the […]
Biodiversity Finance for Infrastructure Companies in Emerging Markets: How to Move from Objectives to Actions
Halting degradation and restoring biodiversity represents an important business opportunity for infrastructure companies, and emerging markets seeking to create new green jobs. This opportunity, estimated at over $6.5 trillion per year, is expected to generate more than 204 million new jobs by 2030. To help companies and investors identify opportunities for biodiversity finance, IFC has […]
Sustainable Finance’s Next Big Act Will Tie Social Targets to Returns
Companies’ efforts to improve their environmental, social and governance credentials have given birth to a new type of debt – sustainability-linked finance – that links interest rates to ESG performance. But the majority of these instruments’ targets are mostly linked to issuers’ environmental impact, and not the impact they may have on the people they employ or the communities they affect.
With the pandemic bringing social issues to the fore and calls for a just transition to Net Zero, this could soon be about to change.
