European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Institutional leadership and information sharing

This page is part of the E3G Public Bank Climate Tracker Matrix, our tool to help you assess the Paris alignment of public banks, MDBs and DFIs

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Paris alignmentReasoning
Paris aligned The Bank is a leader in energy efficiency and finance tracking, and regularly shares information with peers.

Explanation

The EBRD shows most progress on the area of energy efficiency, having demonstrated leadership in this area. Between the Bank’s Energy Strategy and Green Economy Transition approach, a comprehensive energy efficiency strategy has been developed that considers how efficiency plays an important role in supply-side, buildings, transport and financial intermediary activity and acts accordingly.  However, it’s not entirely clear whether the EBRD is sharing information with the other development banks or whether it has been involved in raising energy efficiency standards among the group of development banks as a whole. The EBRD is also part of the Three Percent Club, a coalition of actors looking work together in order to increase energy efficiency improvements by 3% annually. 

Recommendation: The EBRD should engage further with other MDBs that do not have the same energy efficiency standards and tools to raise standards amongst its peer institutions. 

The EBRD has also demonstrated leadership on the area of climate finance tracking, providing the Secretariat for climate finance tracking among the MDBs. Its leadership of the Joint MDB Paris Agreement alignment Working Group is also an area of excellent leadership. In addition, the Bank became the first amongst peers to commit to the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures in 2018. The Bank has been working on joint finance tracking methodologies since 2011, and has been coordinating reporting since 2016. 

The Bank has been a leader in climate risk screening, working as a “thought collaborator” in the development of A Framework and Principles for Climate Resilience Metrics in Financing Operations. Here, the Bank works to develop a comprehensive and flexible guide for climate resilient investments, largely focusing on the adaptation potential of projects.  The framework relies both on quality of design and projects results, founded on concrete characteristics. This Framework is not solely built on the EBRD’s operational structure, but relies on lessons learned from multiple other MDBs and IDFC members and is intended to be a widely applicable guidance for all banks. In addition, the Bank worked closely with the EIB on circular economy categorisation/taxonomy and participated in the EU Sustainability Taxonomy Working Group. 

The EBRD was also a founding member of the Three Percent EE Global Alliance, which aims to raise energy efficiency 3% annually via collaboration with states, NGOs and other interested bodies. The Bank is also working with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as an implementing partner to “[deliver] effective, transformational and innovative mechanisms with sustainable development impact”.  

The focus of the EBRD as an enabler of green economy more than specific development goals has shaped its actions and priorities, focusing more on enabling countries to transition and helping them develop an adjacent green economy. The EBRD Green Cities programme is another example of leadership at the EBRD (please see the EBRD Sectoral strategies page for more info on this). 

Last Update: November 2020

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