Investing in Climate Change Adaptation in Fragile Contexts
With the world’s most vulnerable communities affected by climate-related weather events and disasters, mainly in Africa, receiving only receiving 1% of climate adaptation finance, Standard Bank recognises the need to develop targeted investment mandates into these regions to support a just transition.
Energy is a key enabler of sustainable and inclusive growth, especially in developing markets where vast populations need power to drive entrepreneurship, access education and other basic services. However, the power sector is a significant contributor to carbon emissions.
Renewable energy will play a critical role in decarbonising the sector. We need to continuously engage with key regions to support their transition toward Net Zero through a variety of sustainable finance solutions, including the use of proceeds and sustainability-linked instruments. Our five-year target is to mobilise a cumulative amount of between R250 billion and R300 billion in sustainable finance by the end of 2026 into Africa.
Standard Bank aims to provide an additional R50 billion of financing for renewable energy power plants over the next three years, and to underwrite the financing of a further R15 billion of renewable energy power plants over the same timeframe.