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.
| Paris alignment | Reasoning |
|---|---|
| Some progress | Transparency of financial intermediary lending needs improving. |
| Climate finance data | Provides adequate data to the OECD. |
| Financial intermediary lending | Environmental assessments of high-risk sub-projects published. |
| TCFD Reporting | No TCFD reporting |
Transparency of climate finance data
In 2020, the AIIB has started to report its aggregate climate finance figures as well as mitigation and adaptation finance breakdown as part of the Joint Report on Multilateral Development Banks’ (MDBs) Climate Finance. It is encouraged to begin reporting its project level climate finance in more details under this process and release any underlying data behind its submission – it is understood this will happen with the launch of a climate change website. The AIIB provides an adequate level of information in its submission to the OECD-DAC (Development Assistance Committee) climate-related development finance database.
Recommendation: The AIIB should release the underlying project level data to its submission to the joint MDB report on climate finance, ideally in csv or spreadsheet format.
Transparency of financial intermediary lending
AIIB has reportedly committed to releasing information about financial intermediary (FI) sub-projects including “relevant social and environmental documentation…that is proportionate to the associated environmental and social risks and impacts”. To date, the AIIB has not disclosed information on any of the sub-projects its FI clients support. This could potentially be because the majority of approved FI projects are still in the project/investee/sub-funds selection stage (according to information provided by AIIB). However, this means that the few FI projects that have been approved do not feature anywhere.
AIIB’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) states that disclosing sub-project information is the responsibility of the financial intermediary. Considering this information is available from the clients, the AIIB should aim to aggregate this information onto their website, much like it does for approved and proposed projects. The reason for this is that it is often hard to navigate other websites, especially across numerous languages, which decreases transparency. As the AIIB grows, a central depository of sub-projects will allow robust interrogation of its financing trends.
All of AIIB’s FI sub-projects related to energy are subject to AIIB’s Energy Strategy: Sustainable Energy for Asia Results Monitoring Framework such as the SUSI Energy Transition Fund, TKYB Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency On-Lending Facility, L&T Green Infrastructure On-Lending Facility and Tata Cleantech Sustainable Infrastructure On-Lending Facility.
Funds invested through financial intermediaries currently make up 12% of the AIIB’s operations, according to the Asian Infrastructure Finance Report 2020
TCFD Reporting
No TCFD reporting currently occurs.
Recommendation: We recommend that all development banks begin TCFD reporting.
Recommendation: We recommend that all 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