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Wednesday / March 12. 2025

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HomePosts Tagged "World Bank Group"
Finance, Funding, Investments

Sweden is contributing SEK 30 million (approximately CHF 2.4 million) to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) from 2024 to 2026 to help developing economies and least developed countries (LDCs) meet international food safety, animal and plant health standards for trade

The contribution was confirmed at a signing ceremony on 7 November attended by Ambassador Nina Tornberg of Sweden and the WTO‘s Financial Controller at the Finance and Corporate Services Division, John Breckenridge.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said: “We thank Sweden for its continued generosity and commitment to the STDF, and to improving people’s lives through trade. For two decades, the STDF’s global partnership has successfully provided pathways to trading safely, enabling communities around the world to use trade to sustain inclusive development and growth. STDF’s support has helped small-scale producers in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean meet standards and start exporting to regional and international markets, contributing to higher earnings and job creation, including for women and youth; supporting poverty reduction and food security; and creating ‘win-wins’ for development and the environment.

Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Benjamin Dousa, said: “STDF’s work to strengthen farmers’, producers’ and traders’ access to international food markets helps boost food security by facilitating trade flows while offering the potential to improve income opportunities for communities. Supporting and strengthening the synergies between trade and development cooperation is a key part of the Swedish Government’s reform agenda for development assistance and STDF’s work is well aligned with this objective”.

The donation underscores Sweden’s commitment to the STDF’s mission, bringing its total contributions to approximately CHF 17.86 million since 2005. Sweden has contributed CHF 66.5 million to WTO trust funds over the past 22 years.

The 2024-2026 contribution will be used to strengthen the ability of small-scale farmers, producers and traders to gain and maintain access to markets for food and agriculture products through the development and roll-out of collaborative and innovative projects to strengthen SPS capacity, knowledge sharing, and monitoring and evaluation of results.

Sweden’s long-standing collaboration has been key over the years to promote the economic inclusion benefits of STDF’s work, which has contributed to increasing capacity in developing economies through contributions to legislation, strategies, structures, and SPS-related processes, as well as improved implementation of trade-focused measures for food safety, plant, and animal health.

Target economies and sectors – including micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) – that have benefitted from STDF support have seen stronger export growth in plants, animals and foods. STDF projects have also contributed to enhancing sustainable economic growth and climate change resilience.

Together with other donors, Sweden has driven work to mainstream cross-cutting issues focused on gender and environment, which enables STDF’s work to achieve stronger and more sustainable results. In addition, Sweden is actively contributing towards developing the next STDF strategy for 2025-2030 and strengthening STDF’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework with a view to further improving its performance and impact.

The STDF is a global multi-stakeholder partnership facilitating safe and inclusive trade, established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the WTO, which houses and manages the partnership. The STDF responds to evolving sanitary and phytosanitary needs, drives inclusive trade, and contributes to sustainable economic growth and food security, in support of the United Nations’ Global Goals.

Sweden is contributing SEK 30 million (approximately

Climate, Finance, India, Schemes - Banks, Sustainability

 The climate loan aim to promote sustainable growth, create jobs and finance green/blue projects.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group and the largest global development institution, is partnering with Axis Bank, one of the largest private sector banks in India, to provide a $500 million loan to help develop a blue finance market and scale up financing of green projects in India.

This is IFC’s first blue investment in India and the first blue transaction by a financial institution in the country.  Blue loans are financing instruments that raise and earmark funds for investments such as water and wastewater management, reduction of marine plastic pollution, restoration of marine ecosystems, sustainable shipping, eco-friendly tourism, and offshore renewable energy.

This transaction is also the largest green financing by IFC in the country. The funding will enable Axis Bank to expand its climate finance portfolio.

With India’s rapid urbanization and economic growth, there is a substantial opportunity to enhance water and energy efficiency. The water and wastewater treatment market size were estimated at $1.6 billion as of 2022 and is expected to reach $3 billion by 2029. Additionally, the green buildings sector presents an investment opportunity of $1.4 trillion by 2030, driven by a need for sustainable infrastructure. Most of these investments need to come from the private sector to offset limited public funding.

As part of its advisory services, IFC will support Axis Bank in growing its green buildings portfolio, including for affordable housing projects and building capacity for impact reporting. Through this engagement, IFC aims to catalyse the green buildings’ market in India. IFC will also provide a performance-based incentive of up to $2.9 million from the UK-IFC Market Accelerator for Green Construction (MAGC) program aimed at supporting the design and construction of green buildings certified by IFC’s EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) green buildings standard.

Speaking on the occasion, Amitabh Chaudhry, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Axis Bank said, “With the increasing effects of climate change into the global ecosystem and the growing awareness of environment sustainability, it’s imperative for banks to adopt sustainable lending practices. We are excited to partner with IFC with whom we share a common vision of strengthening standards and lending practices to boost sustainable finance in India. Given Axis Bank’s focus on growing its climate and sustainable finance portfolios, along with its large size, systemic importance, and wide reach, we hope to be a strong and stable partner for IFC in the key focus area of climate finance in India.”

“We are thrilled to announce our inaugural blue loan in India, marking our largest climate finance initiative in the country to date. India serves as an exceptional testing ground for innovative approaches to climate adaptation. This loan will not only catalyse private sector investment in this emerging asset class but also direct long-term funding toward fostering a sustainable blue economy. Additionally, it aims to enhance financing for climate projects across India, with a strong emphasis on green buildings that will mitigate climate change impacts and generate jobs. Partnering with Axis Bank, a like-minded ally, we are committed to propelling India’s sustainable and inclusive growth forward,” said Makhtar Diop, Managing Director of IFC.

 The climate loan aim to promote sustainable