Five Banks Join Alliance for Green Commercial Banks

Bank of China (Hong Kong), Citi, Crédit Agricole CIB, HSBC, and Standard Chartered, which collectively represent more than US$7 trillion in assets, have become cornerstone members of the Alliance, an initiative established by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group and the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. The Alliance's Asia chapter was jointly launched in 2020 with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the chapter's founding member and first regional anchor.

The Alliance brings together financial and research institutions and innovative technology providers to develop a green community in emerging markets to collectively finance the infrastructure and business solutions needed to advance sustainable economic development.

The Alliance's five cornerstone members are demonstrated leaders in green finance that have already achieved significant milestones that align with the Alliance's objectives. The banks will work closely with the IFC and the HKMA to advocate client adaptation to green strategies, promote best practices in green products and services, and unlock new business opportunities that will enable the green transition of economies.

The Alliance also leverages its resources to help financial institutions in their green transition with the support of a blue-chip roster of partners. To date, three global partners – The Carbon Trust, The Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs, and the Resource and Environment Branch of the China National Institute of Standardization, and a knowledge partner, the University of Chicago, have committed to contribute their expertise on everything from innovation and standardisation to academic points of view.

"We are delighted to welcome five of the world's leading financial institutions to the Alliance for Green Commercial Banks," said Regional Vice President for Asia and Pacific at the IFC, Mr Alfonso Garcia Mora. "Asia is the world's largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, which makes unleashing the region's climate-smart investment potential critical to tackling climate change. With vast flows of capital from investors into both large corporations and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in Asia, all of which are becoming far more aware of the critical need to play their part in the green transition, green finance stands to play a huge role in the region's sustainable economic development going forward."

"The HKMA is committed to making Hong Kong SAR a leading global hub for green finance," said The Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Eddie Yue. "Building the capacity of commercial banks and other financial institutions in Asia will help to scale up green finance markets and increase the risk resilience of the sector. The five cornerstone members share our vision of promoting more sustainable and more resilient regional growth, and we are excited to work with them in our collective efforts to address climate and environmental risks."

According to IFC research, cities in emerging markets in East Asia and the Pacific alone have the potential to attract US$18 trillion in climate-related investments by 2030, in everything from green buildings, renewable energy and electric vehicles to public transportation.