Beijing, December 9, 2013
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has won the best investment project award for its China Utility-Based Energy Efficiency Finance Program, which has generated loans worth $783 million through its partner banks and cut more than 18 million tons of greenhouse-gas emissions a year.
The Environment, Ethical and Social Global Investment Awards, organized by Investment Week, a U.K. weekly magazine, were given out on November 26 in London to give recognition to companies that display high environmental, ethical and corporate governance standards, and engage in social-impact investing. IFC’s China Utility-Based Energy Efficiency Finance Program, or CHUEE, stood out in a hotly contested category to win the coveted award.
“The best investment project award recognizes the importance of finance in achieving sustainable projects on a global scale,” said Deborah Benn, chair of the awards’ judging panel. “Congratulations go to IFC’s CHUEE program, which the judges felt provided an excellent sustainable-energy-financing model to help mitigate climate change in one of the fastest-growing economies in the world."
The awards, now in their fifth year, were delivered as part of the Environmental, Ethical and Social Global Investment Conference 2013, where experts assessed the key trends occurring in these sectors with the aim of promoting a greater understanding of environmental, ethical and social investments.
“The private sector must be front and center in efforts to fight climate change. In China, the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases, our program has played a catalytic role in harnessing the private sector to increase investments in energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects,” said William Beloe, IFC’s senior operations officer for the CHUEE program. “We are proud of the work IFC has undertaken in China over the last seven years and this award pays tribute to those efforts.”
Banks participating in IFC’s CHUEE program have provided loans to 178 energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects. The latest phase of the program, targeted at small and medium enterprises, is expected to help finance energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects of around 175 companies in China. In addition to providing risk-sharing facilities, the program offers expert advice to ensure that lending to climate-friendly projects is profitable for businesses.
Established in 2006, the CHUEE program is endorsed by China’s Ministry of Finance and co-funded by the Global Environment Facility, the Ministry of Employment and Economy of Finland, and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, our investments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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