REPORTS & DATA

The Blue Economy encompasses economic activities that rely or impact on the use of coastal and marine resources. Like the broader concept of the Green Economy, of which the Blue Economy forms a part, it advocates sustainable use of these resources to minimize negative impacts on the marine environment. Investing in the Sustainable Blue Economy (SBE) recognizes the criticality of the ocean and its resources, and the increasing threats to the marine environment from climate change, overexploitation, and marine pollution. This voluntary Guidance is for broad use by the market to provide issuers with guidance on the key components involved in launching a credible “blue bond” and to aid investors by promoting availability of information to evaluate the environmental impact of their “blue bond” investments. This Guidance is a result of collaboration between the Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Capital Market Association (ICMA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), United Nations Environment Programme – Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), and United Nations Global Compact (UNGC).

Nearly all types of natural capital—the world’s stock of resources provided by nature—are in decline. Combining cutting-edge, integrated natural science and economic models with an extensive new global dataset, the report offers a novel approach to address the foundational challenges of sustainability to find that economic development and poverty reduction do not need to come at the cost of a livable planet.

There is a growing recognition of the need to transition to sustainable business models that protect biodiversity and ecosystem services. Finance and innovative financial solutions are key to supporting this transition; and biodiversity finance has emerged as a fast-growing area in green finance with increased interest from investors, financial institutions, and issuers globally. IFC has developed a Biodiversity Finance Reference Guide to provide an indicative list of investment projects, activities, and components that help protect, maintain, or enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as a structured approach for investors and financiers to identify eligible use of proceeds that constitute biodiversity finance.

Clean cooking fuel, stoves, and related technology have great potential to improve households’ health and livelihoods, empower women, and reduce negative climate and environmental impacts. However, worldwide, more than 2.4 billion people lack access to clean cooking technology. This brief introduces the first-ever Clean Impact Bond (CIB), a results-based financing (RBF) instrument that is designed to mobilize finance for small and medium enterprises based on sales of certified health and gender credits in the modern energy cooking sector.

Regulatory approaches to facilitate the climate transition have proliferated around the world, particularly with the development of classification systems – or taxonomies – that set out criteria for economic activities labeled as sustainable. This research report, conducted in partnership between IFC and the Equator Principles Association, explores linkages and provides practical comparisons between the European Union’s (EU) Taxonomy’s “do no significant harm” (DNSH) and minimum safeguards requirements, and the IFC Performance Standards and World Bank Group Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Guidelines.

This report provides an up-to-date overview of existing and emerging carbon pricing instruments around the world, including international, national and subnational initiatives. It also investigates trends surrounding the development and implementation of carbon pricing instruments and some of the drivers seen over the past year. Specifically, this includes the use of carbon taxes, emissions trading systems, and crediting mechanisms. Key topics covered in the 2023 report include how governments have responded to the global energy crisis, uptake of ETSs and carbon taxes in emerging economies, and progress in carbon markets and supporting frameworks, including implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

The increasing urbanization in India, along with rising household incomes, has led to a surge in demand for residential properties. The study aims to identify the demand for green housing among lower-income groups, assess the supply value chain of green construction materials and financial products, analyze housing policy framework on green buildings and finance, and formulate appropriate products and strategies for penetrating the affordable green housing market and targeted customer segments.

As blue carbon projects are in high demand, a number of large buyers are willing to commit to forward carbon credit agreements and offer amenities, including premium prices and upfront payments. Mobilizing capital investments for conservation remains a primary obstacle to managing and restoring coastal blue carbon ecosystems. This report serves to assess current market trends around coastal blue carbon with a view to identifying ways to boost financing for conserving and restoring marine and coastal ecosystems.

Sustainable finance roadmaps are often the first step in the systematic development of sustainable financial markets, as they offer a holistic and consolidated approach. “SBFN Toolkit: Developing Sustainable Finance Roadmaps”, a practical, one-stop guidance document that provides Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN) members and other users with an easy-to-use tool to design and implement sustainable finance roadmaps. Roadmaps, as evidenced by SBFN members’ experience, are powerful instruments to bring together different market players, and align their efforts toward shaping sustainable financial systems.

Based on IFC’s well-established Corporate Governance Methodology, the Climate Governance Progression Matrix is a tool to assist Boards of Directors in identifying and overseeing climate-related risks and opportunities. It provides practical and progressive climate-related actions (from Basic Practices – Level 1 to Leadership – Level 4) for each of the six Parameters of the Corporate Governance Methodology.