Solar thermal technology could offer cheap carbon-free heat for manufacturers. But tech developers are stuck in a financing gap between venture capital and project finance that will be harder to fill after recent bank failures.

SLLs offer more flexibility for borrowers targeting sustainability, but the structure is coming under scrutiny around the world for potential greenwashing concerns.

Sustainability is now fundamental to all bank operations. Restructuring to make sure that the right people are in the right sustainability roles has been a challenge for some firms. Euromoney looks at what is needed to become a credible ESG leader.

Big transaction banks are responding to corporate customer demand for sustainability linked supplier-finance programmes by extending the geographical availability and range of the products they offer.

Just back from Davos, the bank’s new head of sustainable finance says the industry needs to do more, and Barclays needs to do more on transition.

The recent update to the green taxonomy and implementation of the SFDR RTS have received a mixed reception in parts of the EU.

Macroeconomic disruptions and regulatory scrutiny will drive market participants to adopt a practical environmental, social and governance strategy in the year ahead – one that is less about narrative and more about materiality.

Across the Middle East and North Africa, Egypt and its banks boast august credentials when it comes to climate and sustainability. But frameworks and agreements are one thing, creating substantive change across an entire financial sector is quite another.

COP27 placed green hydrogen production at the top of the global net-zero agenda. Banks want to fund this technology, but energy supply, cost and regulatory uncertainty are jeopardizing its future as the decarbonization solution for hard-to-abate sectors.

Three years ago, LTS Ventures was tasked with building a simple microfinance platform for Laos’s army of village banks and savings unions. It took off like a rocket, boosting financial inclusion, cutting fraud. Now the firm is eyeing fresh external funding and expansion across southeast Asia.

Strategies and financing need to be radically reassessed to achieve sustainability in a rapidly changing world.

Qatari banks are eager to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable banking amid growing public scrutiny of the environmental cost of hosting the World Cup.

Nearly all banks talk about corporate responsibility, few make it integral to the way they work. What sets Bank of America apart is that it has been doing just that for years and this year it receives the award for North America’s best bank for corporate responsibility.

Across every sector and region HSBC stands out for its commitment to developing partnerships and products that will bring finance at scale to create a more sustainable and resilient planet.

With its unique model of direct lending to microfinance institutions and bringing large investors to the table, BNP Paribas has put financial inclusion at the heart of its agenda.

Using its balance sheet to help the transition to net zero emissions, racial equality and economic mobility, while supporting employees through Covid-19 and assisting communities in all markets it operates in, Bank of America has put corporate responsibility at its core.

The breadth and ambition of Santander’s diversity and inclusion programmes set it apart from its peers globally.

When a big US bank joins its peers around the world under an umbrella of responsible banking, it lifts the entire responsibility agenda – and this is exactly what Citi has done as an early signatory to the Principles of Responsible Banking (PRB) of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative.

It was a year of milestones for Morgan Stanley in sustainability, a journey that began in 2013 with the establishment of the Sustainable Investing Institute under Audrey Choi, the bank’s chief sustainability officer.

For our best bank for sustainable finance award, HSBC edges BNP Paribas and BAML for the range of its deals and its involvement in industry bodies that are furthering sustainable finance.

When Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Asia president, Matthew Koder, gets going on corporate responsibility, your best chance of getting out of the room within an hour and a half is an earthquake. Koder chose to pitch personally in only one category, this one, and in truth everything BAML put in for – investment banking, transaction services and country awards from the Philippines to Japan – is presented through the filter of corporate responsibility.

Access Bank in Nigeria, under managing director Herbert Wigwe, leads the way in social and environmental banking efforts, helping improve the country’s health and education, reducing emissions, spearheading sustainability and supporting financial inclusion. Its vast range of work wins Access Bank the award for Africa’s best bank for corporate responsibility.

Garanti Bank has not only led the financial industry in Turkey with its environmental policies but also the whole corporate sector. For example, it was the first Turkish company to sign the UN Global Compact’s Business Leadership Criteria on Carbon Pricing. And last year it took this one step further, becoming the only financial institution in the world to be included in the 2017 CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) Water A List – one of just 78 companies that meet the highest standards for water security. Garanti is CEE’s best bank for sustainable finance.

It is perhaps obvious that Erste Bank is leading the charge to help the unbanked and underbanked across central and eastern Europe – it was part of its mission when it was established in 1819 after all. And some 200 years later, financial inclusion is still just as pressing in the countries it operates.