REPORTS & DATA

The Common Principles for Climate Mitigation Finance Tracking consist of a set of definitions and guidelines and a list of eligible activities that allow for consistent accounting and reporting of financial flows for climate change mitigation finance.

In 2021, the volume of green bond issuance in emerging markets more than doubled to a record US$95 billion from US$41 billion in 2020. In all, 35 emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) issued green bonds in 2021, including seven new entrants. The fourth edition of IFC and Amundi’s Emerging Market Green Bonds Report provides a detailed update of developments in green bonds issued in EMDEs and the outlook for the coming year. For the first time, it includes a focus on social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked bonds issued in these countries. The report also looks at the need for EMDEs to scale up investments in climate adaptation and discusses global policy initiatives, including those announced at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties. A final section looks at the “greening” of debt restructuring, which allows countries whose debt is unsustainable to direct capital toward green and sustainable investment.

The first thought leadership paper from the Alliance for Commercial Banks provides a primer on climate risk and its broad reverberations in the financial services industry. It offers an overview of the effects of climate risk on financial institutions and financial markets, discusses new techniques for measuring climate risk, and explores the evolving practices of financial institutions in tackling it, as well as the related regulatory initiatives. The paper concludes with a few considerations regarding climate resilience going forward. This thought leadership paper was prepared by the Alliance for Green Commercial Banks in partnership with the Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research, the research arm of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance.

This Handbook aims to provide practical and straightforward guidance for financial institutions in emerging markets to prepare and execute a successful green bond issue. The Handbook has been compiled by market practitioners with deep practical experience of working with issuers and investors and will be updated periodically to reflect innovation in practice in the Green Bond market.

Blue Finance is an emerging area in Climate Finance with increased interest from investors, financial institutions, and issuers globally. It offers tremendous opportunities and helps address pressing challenges by contributing to economic growth, improved livelihood, and the health of marine ecosystems. This document identifies eligible blue project categories to guide IFC’s investments to support the blue economy, in line with the Green Bond Principles and Green Loan Principles. The market has been seeking guidance on project eligibility criteria, translating general Blue Economy Financing Principles, such as the Sustainable Blue Economy Principles and the Sustainable Ocean Principles, towards guidelines for blue bond issuances and blue lending.

Sustainability-linked finance is designed to incentivize the borrower’s achievement of environmental, social, or governance targets through pricing incentives. Launched in 2017, it has now become the fastest-growing sustainable finance instrument, with over $809 billion issued to date in sustainability-linked loans and bonds. Yet these instruments are still nascent in emerging markets, which represent only 5 percent of total issuance to date. This note shares examples of recent sustainability-linked financing, including several involving IFC in various roles, to highlight how investors can utilize these new instruments in emerging markets and mitigate greenwashing risks.

This report captures a significant increase in collective efforts between regulators and industry across all parts of the financial sector, and at regional and global level, to advance sustainable finance. This has emerged as an essential strategy to harmonize definitions, disclosure requirements, and good practice expectations for managing sustainability risks and opportunities in all financial sector activities.