10 Essentials for a ‘Truly Green’ Green Equity Approach

This report by Recourse and a coalition of partners evaluates the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) 'Approach to Greening Equity in Financial Institutions' (GEA). While acknowledging the GEA's goal to phase out coal-related investments by 2030, the authors argue that the current framework contains significant loopholes and fails to align with the Paris Agreement. The document proposes ten essential reforms to ensure the IFC's equity investments in financial intermediaries are truly green, including expanding the scope to oil and gas, improving transparency, and addressing human rights and gender equality.

• The Green Equity Approach (GEA) contains loopholes that allow IFC clients to continue supporting fossil fuels. For example, Hana Indonesia bank financed the Java 9 and 10 coal plant complexes in Banten Province, Indonesia, shortly after signing the GEA, without the IFC's knowledge because clients are not required to reveal new coal financing.
• The GEA's definition of 'exposure' to coal is too narrow, excluding financial services like the underwriting of bonds or share issues. This is a critical gap because 65% of bank financing for fossil fuels in 2020 occurred through underwriting rather than project or corporate lending.
• Adoption of the GEA among IFC clients has been very low. Out of nearly 70 commercial banks with active IFC equity investments, only three banks and two insurance companies have signed the agreement.
• The IFC has failed to meet its 2021 commitments to release a Paris alignment methodology for intermediary financing and to review the GEA.
• The GEA is criticized for its lack of gender responsiveness, mentioning women only three times and limiting the focus to ring-fencing investments for women-owned businesses. The report argues that gender assessments and action plans should be mandatory.
• The IFC has been linked to significant harms through its intermediary lending. A Compliance Advisor Ombudsman report found that the IFC breached its own standards by allowing Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) to finance 10 coal plants in the Philippines, causing egregious environmental and community harm.
• To align with the Paris Agreement and the 1.5°C threshold, the report argues the GEA must be expanded beyond coal to include a cessation of finance for all new oil and gas projects.

APA

Geary, K., & Pascual, M. M. (n.d.). 10 Essentials for a ‘Truly Green’ Green Equity Approach. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/10-Essentials-for-a-%E2%80%98Truly-Green-Green-Equity-Approach.pdf

Chicago

Geary, Kate, and Mark Moreno Pascual. 10 Essentials for a ‘Truly Green’ Green Equity Approach. Center for International Environmental Law, n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/10-Essentials-for-a-%E2%80%98Truly-Green-Green-Equity-Approach.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Geary |first1=Kate |last2=Pascual |first2=Mark Moreno |title=10 Essentials for a ‘Truly Green’ Green Equity Approach |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/10-Essentials-for-a-%E2%80%98Truly-Green-Green-Equity-Approach.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gearyndessentials, author = {Geary, Kate and Pascual, Mark Moreno}, title = {{10 Essentials for a ‘Truly Green’ Green Equity Approach}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/10-Essentials-for-a-%E2%80%98Truly-Green-Green-Equity-Approach.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }