Green Finance

Impacts related to climate change have no borders. People need financial security as well as resilient working and living environments. That is why climate change mitigation and environmental protection are among the most pressing tasks when it comes to development cooperation. There is an opportunity to deliver improved social, environmental and economic outcomes for people, including support to job creation and more resilient communities, as well as a cleaner and healthier environment.

Investments in climate mitigation and adaptation measures are essential and factors such as strong domestic financial markets and access to green finance play a key role and contribute to the “greening” of economic activities and living conditions worldwide. Financial institutions, such as banks, leasing companies, microfinance institutions, credit unions and other financial service providers can play an important role in helping their clients build resilience and adapt to the effects of climate change.

GOPA AFC advises financial institutions on how to establish and successfully develop their own ‘greening’ strategy, which influences all financial products and services to clientele and ensures that they are not only commercially viable, but also engage in climate-friendly activities and stimulate economically healthy businesses and responsible practices, as well as improve living conditions.

We help financial institutions across the globe with the development, implementation, and promotion of innovative financial products, which support a smooth transition from a conventional to sustainable climate resilient economy. GOPA AFC has the capacity and programs to train and coach staff on day-to-day operations, design and support awareness raising on climate risks, and demonstrate opportunities and benefits of green and environmentally sound investments to financial institutions and their clients.   

We support financial institutions to identify, evaluate and manage environmental and social (E&S) risks generated by the activities and projects that they finance. In addition, GOPA AFC assists performing Environmental and Social Due Diligence (ESDD) and establishing an Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMS) at the financial institution.

Since 2007, when GOPA AFC became a member of the GOPA Group, the company has benefited from a competitive advantage of having close working relationships with sister companies such as GOPA Infra and their expertise in infrastructure development; GOPA Intec, excelling in Energy Efficiency (EE)/ Renewable Energy (RE) technologies; or GOPA Worldwide, which actively tackles climate change and depletion of natural resources.

Snapshot of relevant project examples AFC is proud of:

  • Development of an e-learning course on Climate Finance, Resilience, and Financing for Biodiversity Impact.
  • Conduction of a series of showcase projects, raising awareness, and highlighting the benefits of energy-efficiency investments on the local markets.
  • Our experience in climate finance further expands to developing green loan products including EE and small-scale RE financing for (M)SMEs and households. For example, GOPA AFC has successfully implemented energy-efficient housing finance programs in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and India; designed tailored loan products for local financial institutions; enhanced the capacity of loan officers; and facilitated the promotion of EE credits among the public.
  • Assisting the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) in establishing a Credit Line for Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection. The bank benefited from enhanced staff and operational capacity and can independently manage the EE credit line, identify energy savings potential amongst clients, and attract potential clients for energy efficiency and renewable energy loans.
  • In East Africa, GOPA AFC has supported 15 financial institutions to manage environmental and social (E&S) risk in their activities and provided trainings in Climate Risk Management and Opportunities, highlighting the need for climate-related financial disclosure.
  • GOPA AFC, on behalf of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), has developed the framework foundations for an inclusive green finance policy (IGFP) for the financial sector of Papua New Guinea, in partnership with the Bank of Papua New Guinea and the Centre for Excellence in Financial Inclusion (CEFI).  The IGFP serves to guide the country in transitioning from a conventional to a sustainable financial system and will help to identify, track, monitor, and demonstrate the scope and volume of green and inclusive financial flows, whether it is in the form of a loan, equity, guarantee, or some other financial instrument.
  • Contribution to the development of financing mechanisms for the sustainable management of natural resources in Colombia for the GIZ Environment and Peace Project (AmPaz). Moreover, we facilitated biodiversity-friendly financing investments in the private sector through the KfW/ EADB Biodiversity Financing Facility in Uganda.
  • An outstanding example of productive synergies among GOPA sister companies is the “Green Climate Fund (GCF) Readiness Support Programme” which has been implemented by several GOPA units with essential technical input from GOPA AFC in preparing project pipelines by screening and evaluating investment proposals, as well as on Climate-Resilient Agriculture.
  • Another good example of cooperation between GOPA AFC and its sister GOPA intec, is a project in Pakistan, supporting the Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company in setting up a targeted credit facility earmarked for households in rural and remote areas, in need for off-grid solar home systems, which can be purchased from reliable vendors using subsidised credit funds of the German government.