DEG co-finances carbon accounting model for banks in developing countries

Since 2022, DEG has focused its work even more keenly on investments in the areas of impact and climate. That includes a reduction in carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, in order to make DEG’s portfolio climate-neutral by 2040.

Carbon emissions must first be recorded, to ensure that the data used are sound. To promote carbon accounting and impact reporting in the banking sector in developing and emerging countries, DEG is therefore co-financing an online tool, the “Joint Impact Model” (JIM), which will enable banks to measure the emissions of the investments that they finance. The non-profit JIM Foundation, founded in May 2022 by European and multilateral development banks, among others, manages the JIM and develops it further in cooperation with the other partners. The model is based on a global standard developed by the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), a worldwide alliance of 330 financial institutions created to ensure a standardised approach to the measurement of carbon footprints.

DEG provides the JIM Foundation with funding from the Business Support Services programme via its subsidiary DEG Impulse. The JIM Foundation supports financial institutions in developing and emerging countries in cooperation with modelling experts with expertise in measuring emissions. At the COP 27 global climate conference in Egypt, the JIM Foundation announced that the first 25 commercial banks, from places as far apart as Cairo, Kathmandu and Quito, will receive funds for measuring their carbon emissions in 2023.

The banks that use the JIM will obtain access to the online tool and will receive support with calculating their basic carbon footprint and advice on opportunities, risks and scenario planning, as well as the chance to exchange views with other banks and experts in the network.

One of the first banks that will use the JIM tool is Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) in Bangladesh, a long-standing customer of DEG. EBL finances small and medium-sized local companies, among others, which in turn create jobs and generate local income in the country. As the first bank in Bangladesh to begin calculating its carbon footprint with the JIM tool, EBL can take advantage of opportunities in the area of green financing at an early stage and is not only in a good position with regard to future regulatory requirements, but also an interesting partner for impact investors.