Equity Group has emerged as the top financial institution globally with the highest number of transactions for climate-related financing.
During the International Finance Corporation (IFC) 2023 Climate Assessment for Financial Institutions (CAFI) Awards for Climate Reporting, the giant lender was awarded for having supported a total of 47,593 households and businesses in adopting adaptive and mitigating solutions to address the negative impacts of climate change.
The support included availing climate loan facilities to for households to purchase energy-efficient cookstoves in the retail sector as well as loans funding of renewable energy distribution from renewable sources, including hydro, geothermal, and wind.
“Equity is committed to playing a significant role in climate change mitigation and adaptation by providing appropriate financing and capacity development that helps the region decarbonize and build resilience,” said Dr James Mwangi, Equity Group Managing Director.
In ten months of the year to October this year, Equity Group said it had disbursed Ksh 24.7 billion worth of climate financing to various projects out of which, climate adaptation and water efficiency accounted for 66pc, energy efficiency and transport 28pc and renewable energy 6pc.
“By being recognized as the Bank with the most transactions, Equity is creating a broader impact and reach for local communities and businesses. The Bank continues to work towards supporting Kenya’s goal of combating climate change by reducing its carbon emissions by 32% by 2030 and building resilience, as outlined in the National Determined Contribution,” added Dr Mwangi.
A significant proportion of the funding was also used to support climate-smart agriculture, building resilience for farmers and farming ecosystems.
Equity Bank Kenya entered into a partnership with the IFC in 2019 for a Ksh 15.3 billion ($100m) facility for onward lending to climate-related projects. The bank matched the IFC facility which it says demonstrates its commitment to climate finance.
CAFI is a tool developed by the IFC to enable its clients and partners across 210 countries to report on their financing activities for climate-related projects.
“IFC’s work with banks and other financial institutions helps scale up climate finance activities and measure investments earmarked for climate, vital for our clients to realize their climate impact,” added Tomasz Telma, Global Director IFC Financial Institution Group.
As of June 2023, IFC had committed $15.2 billion to climate-related projects through more than 210 emerging market financial institution partners, leveraging an additional $5.8 billion.
