Financing Fairly Sustainability Report 2020

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) conducted a pilot study using the Fair Finance Guide International (FFGI) methodology to assess the sustainability of investment policies for two South African development finance institutions (DFIs): the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The report evaluates these institutions against international social, environmental, and human rights standards, specifically highlighting a lack of public policy transparency and insufficient commitments to phasing out fossil fuel financing in the power generation sector.

• In a comparative assessment of six DFIs using the FFGI methodology, the European Investment Bank (EIB) ranked the highest, while the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) ranked last, achieving only minimal scores across the assessed themes.
• The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) ranked fourth overall. While it scored well in nature, power generation, and human rights, it performed poorly in the climate change theme because its public policies lack measurable targets for reducing its own or its financed greenhouse gas emissions, and it does not set maximum thresholds for fossil fuel investments.
• The IDC's low ranking is primarily attributed to a lack of transparency, as it failed to make its formal policies publicly available despite requests from the CER. Points were only awarded based on limited information in its 2019 Integrated Annual Report.
• Analysis of IDC investments for the 2018/19 financial year showed that while over 20% of R11.7 billion in funding went to renewable energy-related industries, at least 14% was directed to coal-related activities and nearly 3% to oil and gas projects.
• Both the DBSA and IDC lack fossil fuel exclusion policies and have not taken strong positions against coal-fired power generation, despite the National Development Plan's (NDP) goal to transition to a low-carbon economy and decommission 11GW of coal-fired power by 2030.
• The report suggests that South African DFIs may be acting as 'funders of last resort' for coal and coal infrastructure because commercial banks have shifted away from fossil fuel financing, and DFIs are influenced by political mandates and the 'minerals-energy complex'.

APA

Halim, D., & Omar, Z. (2020). Financing Fairly Sustainability Report 2020. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Financing-Fairly-Report-and-Assessment-2020.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Halim, Daiyaan, and Zahra Omar. Financing Fairly Sustainability Report 2020. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2020. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Financing-Fairly-Report-and-Assessment-2020.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Halim |first1=Daiyaan |last2=Omar |first2=Zahra |title=Financing Fairly Sustainability Report 2020 |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=2020 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Financing-Fairly-Report-and-Assessment-2020.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{halim2020financing, author = {Halim, Daiyaan and Omar, Zahra}, title = {{Financing Fairly Sustainability Report 2020}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2020}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Financing-Fairly-Report-and-Assessment-2020.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }