Climate Finance Asia’s Post

Pleased to share the release of the draft report on “Facility-Level Just Transition Guidelines for Banks” by Climate Finance Asia. I am proud to be part of this important project, which provides guidelines for banks to advance the principles of a Just Transition. #justtransition #transitionfinance #sustainability #greenfinance

Happy to announce that Climate Finance Asia's Facility-level Just Transition guidelines for banks draft report released: The Secretariat of the Facility-level Just Transition Working Group (F-JTWG), which is led by Climate Finance Asia, announces the release of a draft report of Facility-level Just Transition Guidelines for Banks at the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29). The F-JTWG, which is comprised of around 15 major global and regional banks alongside non-profit organisations, including SMBC, Bangkok Bank, Climate Bond Initiative, International Labour Organization and Sustainability Economics, etc. The draft report includes a Facility-level Guidelines Tool with the below six focus areas that banks can use to assess their alignment with Just Transition principles, and to engage with their clients for achieving a sustainable and equitable transition: -Labour -Livelihoods -Gender -Energy Security and Poverty -Biodiversity -Governance This F-JTWG and the draft report represents a significant step forward to enabling a Just Transition. By actively seeking feedback from our F-JTWG members, we aim to refine our guideline and ensure they resonate with the realities faced by communities and financial institutions alike. Our goal is to create a framework that makes it possible to achieve social equity when advancing the transition from coal to renewables to create a low carbon economy. https://lnkd.in/geFCfYCb Thks to the great team work Donald Eubank Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary Chan-yau Chong Toby C. Lilu Vandercamme

Climate Finance Asia announced today the launch of the Just Transition Working Group to explore practical ways to integrate #Just_Transition #best_practices into financing the transition at #facility_level to #renewable energy. The Working Group will develop and publish facility-level guidelines that #banks can use to incorporate Just Transition principles into their #financing_policies. The Just Transition Working Group is comprised of about 15 major global and regional banks and non-profit organizations. It was formed following discussions between Climate Finance Asia, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation – SMBC Group and the Growald Climate Fund on emerging best practices for financing a just transition from coal to renewables. Climate Finance Asia will act as the Secretariat of the Working Group. “A just transition requires that we plan for and support those communities and workers who will be impacted by the transition to a low-carbon economy,” said Alan To, Group CEO of Climate Finance Asia. “Our goal with this Working Group is to determine practical steps that banks and financiers can take to uphold Just Transition principles in renewable energy projects, and emphasize the need for equity, inclusiveness, and fairness in the energy transformation process” As a leading financial actor of the carbon transition, SMBC is supporting this initiative, which will help guide our own policies towards decarbonization projects that deliver not only environmental, but also social benefits to all stakeholders.” says SMBC. The Working Group's draft recommendations will be released for public consultation at the upcoming COP29 and a finalized report will be published in Q1 2025, to provide guidance for banks on practical steps for upholding Just Transition principles in financing energy transition projects. These recommendations aim to accelerate the energy transition globally, while protecting the livelihoods and well-being of communities involved. #just_transition #banks #sustainable_finance #renewable #COP #community #low_carbon_economy more details: https://lnkd.in/geACpsfA

Many emerging markets struggle with high debt and limited resources to meet climate and development goals. In a new #G20 policy brief, CGEP scholar Dr. Gautam Jain highlights SDG debt swaps as a solution—unlocking $100B+ for climate and biodiversity action. The brief calls for the G20 to enhance its Common Framework by integrating debt swaps, promoting fair negotiations, and increasing transparency to scale these efforts. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eea-nkW7

Sustainability linked bonds provide a great opportunity to massively accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy 🌎 🌿 If you haven't already, take a look at our in-depth report on SLBs which details what best practice looks like for a high-quality issuance. A key message from this report is that "Strong sustainability-linked bonds start with a strong transition plan". However, we understand that as this is a relatively nascent market, it is not immediately obvious what a credible, robust transition plan should look like. That's where we can help. We know what a great transition plan should disclose and we understand the challenges around this. Do not hesitate to reach out to myself or one of my colleagues if you'd like to discuss further. https://lnkd.in/div_wkcX #transitionfinance #SLBs #transitionplan #netzero #weknowgreen #climatebondsinitiative

Green, social and sustainable (GSS) bond issuance rose 2% in 2023 despite sluggish economic growth. Moody's projects 2024 issuance could reach $950 billion, while S&P Global forecasts it to surpass $1 trillion. Sovereign issuance is growing, with a record 35 sovereigns issuing $169 billion in 2023. Emerging markets are playing a larger role, accounting for 25% of sovereign GSS issuance. "We believe sustainable finance will be a growing source of funding as emerging market sovereigns present national-energy transition plans and climate adaptation goals," the report states. New standards are emerging, with the European Union Green Bonds Standard set to transform issuance from late 2024. This shift "should enforce greater market discipline and encourage increased issuance of green, social and sustainable bonds." The market is diversifying, with Iceland issuing the first sovereign gender-based bond and Canada including nuclear energy in its GSS framework. "Sovereign green, social and sustainable bonds can be seen as a robust climate-financing instrument that facilitates collaboration between investors and sovereign governments on environmental aims," the report concludes. #Growth #GreenBonds #Sovereign #Sustainability #SustainableFinance I The Business Times I SPH Media I Malika Takhtayeva I BNP Paribas I

Empowering sustainable growth and inclusive finance in #Azerbaijan. At the sidelines of COP29 in Baku, @IFC – International Finance Corporation is providing a $20 million loan to #Azerbaijan’s @BankRespublika focusing on expanding access to finance for #MSMEs, low-income households, and climate initiatives! Half of this funding is earmarked for climate projects, supporting Azerbaijan's efforts to reduce GHG emissions. This collaboration with @BankRespublika aims to strengthen Azerbaijan's financial sector while promoting sustainable growth and resilience. Read more: http://wrld.bg/1fiV50U6R5Y #IFCGreeningEurope #COP29 @BankRespublika @bankrespublika/ @IFC Financial Institutions/ @IFC Europ

After the collapse of COP 29's efforts to increase climate investment in the Global South to anything like the necessary level, I posted an article on some radical ideas for scaling up the flows. These include: - more domestic saving within middle-income developing countries being invested locally, - more grants to low-income countries with new wealth or carbon taxes, restrictions on illicit capital flows - and scaling back on bank and insurer regulations, encouraging lending to asset bubbles within Global North countries. #ClimateFinance #GreenFinance Pritam Singh, Emma Dawnay, Jonathan Essex, Peter Newell https://lnkd.in/dPrjiwev

🌍 Big News in Climate Finance! 🌱 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is taking a groundbreaking step to tackle climate challenges by expanding its climate-related lending by $7.2 billion! This is made possible through first-ever sovereign guarantees from the U.S. ($1 billion) and Japan ($600 million), unlocking significant capacity for impactful climate projects. One highlight? A sustainable aviation fuel project in Pakistan, producing jet fuel from cooking oil, with 50% of its $90M cost funded by ADB’s new scheme. This innovative model reallocates risk to increase funding power—without the need for a general capital increase. It’s a testament to how multilateral development banks can drive scalable climate solutions. As global climate goals come into sharper focus at COP29, this move underscores the critical role of development banks in mobilizing resources to meet the growing $2 trillion annual need for clean energy and adaptation. 🌟 📢 Let’s celebrate this collaborative win for sustainable development! #ClimateAction #SustainableFinance #ADB #Innovation #COP29 Resource: https://lnkd.in/gRZf_hUK

A new a European 🅱🅰🅽🅺🅸🅽🅶 🆂🅴🅲🆃🅾🆁 study concludes: "First, we find 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. Net zero banks neither reduce credit supply to the sectors they target for decarbonization 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬. Second, we find 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. Borrowers of net zero banks are not more likely to set decarbonization targets or reduce their verified emissions. Our estimates rule out even moderate-sized effects. These results highlight 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. " ( 'Business as usual: bank net zero commitments, lending, and engagement' * published by the US National Bureau of Economic Research). Is this a surprise? Or just confirming the obvious that scale and speed of transformative action requires far more than voluntary aspirations, such as by Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), the climate accelerator for United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) ’s Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) and the sector-specific alliance for banks under the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). So another wake-up call and comprehensive ammunition to create pressure on regulators and the finance sector. #netzero #climateaction #climatecrisis #ESG #sustainability #divestment #renewables