The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has reaffirmed Commercial Bank of Ceylon’s status as the South Asian financial institution to record the highest number of climate finance transactions in fiscal year 2022, awarding the bank the Climate Assessment for Financial Institutions (CAFI) award.
The only Sri Lankan bank to be accorded this accolade, Commercial Bank won the same award for fiscal year 2021 as well.
Commercial Bank Managing Director and CEO Sanath Manatunge said, “This award positions Commercial Bank as a consistent leader in climate financing and attests to our commitment to sustainable financing which is at the heart of responsible banking. We will continue to promote sustainable economic growth in this region and address challenges posed by climate change through our green financing and climate financing initiatives.”
IFC awarded Commercial Bank after tracking data on climate financing submitted by its clients in the South Asia region using CAFI - a digital, web-based platform introduced by IFC to help banks and other financial institutions assess climate eligibility and to measure the development impact of the projects they finance. Commercial Bank uploads data on its green projects and green loans and leases granted to the CAFI platform as a practice. Commercial Bank was a pioneer in adopting a social and environmental screening process in its lending activities.
IFC introduced the CAFI Climate Impact Awards in 2021. To date, IFC clients have used CAFI to report more than US$9.9 billion of climate loans disbursed.