The Bank regards the development of green finance as an important anchor for implementing the new development philosophy, and takes the initiative to promote the comprehensive green and low-carbon transformation of economic and social development. Over the years, the Bank has accelerated the building of a green finance system, enriched green financial products and services and actively engaged in international green cooperation. Adhering to the concept of a global community with a shared future, the Bank has made tangible contributions to the green development of the Belt and Road as well as global sustainable development.  

Establishing a sound green finance management structure. The Bank takes the green philosophy as the fundamental basis for management decisions, and continues to refine the long-term mechanism for green finance development. In 2023, the Bank continued to follow national decisions and plans on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. It established a Green Finance Committee, formulated the Principles for the Green Finance Committee and continued to work on its Green Finance Work Plan (2022-2025) to Support Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Goals, making significant progress in green finance.  

Developing rules and policy systems for green financing in a continuous manner. In 2023, the Bank revised its Green Credit Guidelines to further enhance its ESG risk management and green credit management throughout the lifecycle of credit businesses, which incorporated the practices of major international bilateral and multilateral financial institutions in ESG management and was applied in the Bank’s international cooperation and overseas projects. The Bank also revised its lending policies for industries such as coal chemical, glass, textiles and environmental management. It integrated the philosophy of low-carbon and green development into the key links of credit management, and further increased the credit supply to these areas. 

Enhancing green finance service capacity. In order to support the green and low-carbon transformation of economic and social development, the Bank has innovated and enriched its green finance products and gradually built a green finance service system, taking green credit as the main product and emphasizing the development of green bond, green fund, green guarantee and carbon finance, and further expanded its business scope. The outstanding balance of the Bank’s green loans was RMB534.17 billion at the end of the year, 20.53% higher than the previous year and up by RMB90.962 billion, growing faster than the Bank’s credit volume in general. Among the 6 main sectors financed by the Bank’s green credit, clean energy and clean transport accounted for 70% of the total, while energy conservation and environmental protection also experienced rapid growth. The green credit projects supported by the Bank have generated significant environmental benefits, saving 22.57 million tonnes of standard coal and 14.887 million tonnes of water, and reducing emissions of 27.89 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, 1.3315 million tonnes of chemical oxygen demand, 149,800 tonnes of ammonia nitrogen, 688,700 tonnes of sulfur dioxide, 229,800 tonnes of nitrogen oxides, 588,600 tonnes of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), 147,100 tonnes of volatile organic compounds, 149,500 tonnes of total nitrogen, and 117,200 tonnes of total phosphorus.  

Building platforms to promote green and low-carbon transformation. In 2023, as the leader of the Green Finance Task Force of the Belt and Road Energy Partnership Network of the National Energy Administration, the Bank made efforts to promote high-quality energy cooperation, introduce China’s visions to international energy governance and made our voice heard. The Bank took the lead in conducting the research on Promoting Green and Low-Carbon Energy Transition in Belt and Road Partner Countries with Green Finance: Practice and Policy Suggestions. The research report was completed with the joint efforts of the Task Force members, providing critical references for decision making in support of the development of green Silk Road in a steady and orderly way. A Database for Belt and Road clean energy projects has been set up to share information of various projects. In addition, the Bank, together with more than 10 financial institutions, released the Initiative on Supporting Energy Transformation under the BRI Through Green Finance, in line with the theme of the 10th anniversary of the BRI, calling on all parties to further strengthen support for green and low-carbon energy transformation in Belt and Road partner countries. The report was selected in the white paper titled “The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future” published by the Information Office of the State Council. Since its establishment a year ago, the Task Force has received recognition from a number of institutions around the world. The Task Force has welcomed Standard Chartered, HSBC and the Silk Road Fund as formal members on the basis of shared visions and consensus, and invited the First Abu Dhabi Bank of the UAE and the Saudi National Bank to join as observers. Through these efforts, the scope of the Task Force continued to expand and its influence continued to grow.