Public Financial Institutions’ Climate Commitments: 2023 Update

The 2023 update shows minimal progress in climate commitments among the 70 largest PFIs, with only two institutions setting new targets. However, an analysis of smaller PFIs in emerging markets and developing economies reveals that institutional size is not a primary barrier to climate ambition; instead, government prioritization and national climate goals are the strongest drivers of engagement. The report highlights that banks with general development mandates tend to be more climate-ambitious than those with narrow sectoral mandates, though successful examples exist in infrastructure and agriculture.

• Climate commitments among the 70 largest tracked PFIs remained largely stagnant in 2023, with only two institutions—the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) and the French Group Caisse des Dépôts (CDC Group)—establishing new Paris alignment or net zero targets.
• There is a significant gap in climate action between multilateral development banks (MDBs) and OECD development finance institutions (DFIs) compared to other PFI categories, indicating that climate efforts are concentrated within a narrow segment of the sector.
• National government prioritization is a stronger driver of PFI climate ambition than physical climate vulnerability. PFIs in countries that self-identify as vulnerable (V20 members) show higher engagement (76%) than those in non-V20 countries (60%), while no statistically significant correlation was found using the ND-GAIN Country Index.
• Institutional size and assets under management (AUM) do not appear to be insurmountable barriers to climate action, as evidenced by micro-sized banks like the Nepal Infrastructure Bank and the Foundation for Sustainable Development in Costa Rica achieving 'climate-ambitious' status.
• PFIs with general development (FLEX) mandates demonstrate higher levels of climate ambition compared to those with narrow sectoral mandates, suggesting that a broad scope may facilitate the mainstreaming of climate considerations.
• Infrastructure (INFRA) banks can successfully integrate climate action through two distinct pathways: mainstreaming climate impact metrics across all operations (e.g., Nepal Infrastructure Bank) or providing targeted financing for clean energy projects (e.g., REC Limited in India).

APA

Chin, N., Schell-Smith, K., & Pinko, N. (2024). Public Financial Institutions’ Climate Commitments: 2023 Update. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Public-Financial-Institutions-Climate-Commitments-2023-Update.pdf

Chicago

Chin, Neil, Ken Schell-Smith, and Nicole Pinko. Public Financial Institutions’ Climate Commitments: 2023 Update. Climate Policy Initiative, 2024. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Public-Financial-Institutions-Climate-Commitments-2023-Update.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chin |first1=Neil |last2=Schell-Smith |first2=Ken |last3=Pinko |first3=Nicole |title=Public Financial Institutions’ Climate Commitments: 2023 Update |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=February 2024 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Public-Financial-Institutions-Climate-Commitments-2023-Update.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chin2024public, author = {Chin, Neil and Schell-Smith, Ken and Pinko, Nicole}, title = {{Public Financial Institutions’ Climate Commitments: 2023 Update}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2024}, month = feb, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Public-Financial-Institutions-Climate-Commitments-2023-Update.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }