Magazine

After acquiring a majority stake in Western Ukraine’s leading regional bank, Bank Lviv, Michael Fiebig, Head of Financial Institutions Equity Investments, explains why this rapidly growing financial institution with a strong focus on agricultural sector and SME clients perfectly fits into responsAbility’s portfolio.

Food systems currently consume 30% of the world’s available energy – and are still heavily dependent on fossil fuels. India’s RBL Bank, a client of the climate fund managed by responsAbility, shows how farmers increase their productivity through energy loans for sustainable irrigation. The result: an interesting business area for the bank, higher incomes for the farmers, and climate protection for the world through reduced CO₂ emissions and water consumption.

Reto Schnarwiler, who has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2009, is taking over from Kaspar Müller, who had held the post for 13 years. The new chairman wants to capitalize on the keen interest for impact investments in the market.

With a real hands-on attitude, its own carbon reporting tool, and multiple engineers on staff, the responsAbility-managed climate fund not only invests in green lending but has also created a committed and energized community to foster CO₂ reduction around the world.

responsAbility Investments is adding to its portfolio of investment products with the launch of a new private debt fund for sustainable agriculture in developing and emerging countries.

In the field of investments, size matters. This is particularly true when a fund targets new terrain such as driving climate financing in emerging economies. The responsAbility-managed climate fund has recently crossed the USD 500 m threshold when it comes to committed capital to investees. We talked to Antoine Prédour, who heads the Energy Debt Financing team at responsAbility Investments and asked him about the recipe behind this success.

Between 2011 and 2014, the proportion of the world’s adult population with an account at a financial institution grew from 51 % to 62 %, an increase of around 700 million people.

responsAbility has been a pioneer in development investments for 15 years, with an investment approach that has always been grounded in SDG ideals even before there were SDGs.

responsAbility is officially inaugurating its new Bangkok office. Located at Silom Road in Bangkok’s financial district Bangrak it is to serve as a hub for investment activities across the Asia Pacific region. Regional Director Maud Savary-Mornet explains

With equity investments in financial institutions in emerging markets, such as Fawry in Egypt, responsAbility helps create access to finance for millions of people, which directly improves their quality of life.

In line with local regulatory requirements, most financial institutions in Bangladesh are strengthening their environmental and social management system frameworks to manage key risks. Using its Technical Assistance facility, the responsAbility-managed climate fund has teamed up with prominent partners to provide targeted training to 250 banking officials to build local knowledge and capacity in the field.