European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Level of climate finance transparency

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
Some progressTransparency of financial intermediary lending needs improving.
Climate Finance DataProvides adequate project level data to the OECD and in its sustainability report.
Financial intermediary lendingEnvironmental assessments of high-risk sub-projects published and some subprojects in green financing facilities disclosed.
TCFD ReportingThe EBRD conducts TCFD reporting. Provides details on portfolio metrics. 
Transparency of climate finance data

The EBRD has provided project level climate finance data in its sustainability report since 2018, this is in PDF format. The release in PDF format makes it difficult to do in depth analysis. The EBRD provides an adequate level of information in its submission to the OECD-DAC (Development Assistance Committee) climate-related development finance database. 

It should be noted that the EBRD has also made the following commitments in terms of reporting on Paris alignment:

“From 2022 [EBRD will conduct …]: internal reporting on alignment based on MDBs Paris Alignment disclosure framework; annual reporting to Board; external reporting in line with first internal progress report.”

Transparency of financial intermediary lending

The EBRD requires all high-risk ‘Category A’ subprojects financed through a financial intermediary to be reported to the bank. Information on the environmental and social risks of any sub-project referred to the EBRD and the proposed mitigation measures to address project risks must also be publicly disclosed. There is not a disclosure requirement for all subprojects.

Project summary documents for financial institution lending are available on an EBRD portal and provides some details of the finance. Sub-projects are not disclosed on this portal. However, some of the Green Economy Financing Facilities (GEFF) of the EBRD have subproject disclosure on their individual websites. For example, the Western Balkans website has a list (and map) of subprojects financed along with the sector and financing amount. The Turkish Mid-size Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (MidSEFF) also discloses emission reduction of some sub-projects. This is best practice amongst the MDBs. E3G recommends a centralised version of this for all intermediary lending.

TCFD Reporting

The EBRD does conduct TCFD Reporting. This section assesses what level of detail is disclosed within the 2020 TCFD report.

E3G has developed a list of areas under each TCFD category based upon the disclosure of the three MDBs who do TCFD reporting (EBRD, IFC and EIB). This allows a direct comparison between where each MDB is providing greater disclosure compared to their peers in certain areas.

Amongst the MDBs, the EBRD demonstrates best practice in disclosing the metrics and targets it uses for assessing climate risk. The three areas below have only been disclosed by the EBRD, all other MDBs should look to replicate similar analysis for their own portfolios.

  • It provides a portfolio-wide summary (by industry sector) of those areas with potential sensitivity to transition and physical climate transition and the share of that industry within its portfolio.
  • The EBRD has provided a high level of detail on the exposure to coal within its portfolio. 
  • The EBRD also provides detail of a modelling exercise on a “potentially high-risk portfolio of oil and gas exposures” which covered 14 clients, totalling €662 million in exposure. It used scenarios developed by the Network for Greening the Financial System to determine potential balance sheet losses.

 

Recommendation: We recommend that the MDBs consider disclosing all their projects and subprojects that contribute to climate finance reported in the MDB joint report.   

Recommendation: We recommend that all the MDBs consider disclosing their operations against a version of the EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy that has been adapted for the region the bank operates in. This is because it is science based and is reviewed regularly to reflect changes in technology and science. 

Last Update: May 2022

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