The Green Map
The Green Map is a project of the e-MFP Green Inclusive & Climate Smart Finance Action Group (GICSF-AG) developed with the support of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Started in December 2022, the project aims to map green inclusive finance projects and inclusive finance actors' best practices in both adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and more broadly coping with environmental degradation and promoting sustainable environmental practices.
Why a Green Map?
It’s hard to access information on green inclusive finance.
Currently, there is no common place to look for structured information on existing initiatives on green inclusive finance, or the lessons learnt from pilot initiatives already finalised. Financial Service Providers (FSPs), microfinance networks, and the various stakeholders in the sector are constantly looking for examples to learn from, but information is dispersed and often based on anecdotal evidence, contributing to green inclusive finance being perceived as a new and risky field.
The Green Map aims to change that.
Green is becoming part of financial and social assessment, but it is hard to find best practices
The GICSF-AG Green Index 3.0 has been recently released, and, thanks to the joint work of CERISE+SPTF and the GICSF-AG, Environment is part of the new Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance. FSPs are and will be assessed on their environmental performance. To support their capacity to improve their environmental performance it would be ideal to have some best practices per each Essential Practices of the Green Index 3.0, however these are not yet available. FSPs therefore have difficulty finding examples to inspire them and the progress in environmental performance of the inclusive finance sector is slowed down.
The Green Map aims to change that
What will we do?
We will collect, structure and report information in an open database.
This project aims to collect, structure, and report information in an online database (aka, the Green Map), accessible to all stakeholders in inclusive finance, and publicly available in the webpage of the e-MFP GICSF-AG. The Green Map will allow easy access to information on green inclusive finance projects, along the framework of the Green Index 3.0 so that there is a common frame of reference to analyse the initiatives.
Information will be collected from FSPs, networks of microfinance institutions, investors, development finance institutions (DFIs), and local or international projects, among others. Recent existing project implementation information (i.e., case studies and publications) will also be included in the green map.
Adding to the online database, the project will also include new case studies and a report summarising best practices along the standards and essential practices of the Green Index 3.0. The aim is to provide support to each FSPs that would like to progress in their environmental performance along the various possible practices, standards and essential practices.
The information will be recent, relevant, and diverse.
What are the benefits?
By providing information on recent green innovative experiences and long-standing methodologies, stakeholders will have an overview of the sector's track record worldwide.
The main benefits of the Green Map for the sector are intended to be:
- Enhance awareness, mutual/peer learning, transparency, and multi-stakeholder collaboration.
- Disseminate lessons, outreach, and relevant case studies in green inclusive finance.
- Capitalise on sector experience to speed up the green transition for poor households, smallholders, micro and small enterprises, and financial services providers.
Initial contributors to the project will be recognised in the Green Map.
The Team
Project Lead: Isabelle Barres
Consulting team: Caroline Brandt (HORUS), Juana Ramirez, Silvia Recupero
Expert coordination and quality control: Natalia Realpe Carrillo (GICSF-AG Head, HEDERA Sustainable Solutions), Davide Forcella (GICSF-AG Head, JuST Institute)
Digitisation, data management and online tool development: HEDERA Sustainable Solutions
Are you a Financial Service Provider currently working on green inclusive finance projects?
Do you want to know more about the project?
Please contact Isabelle Barres - isabelle.barres@gmail.com
or Joana Afonso – jafonso@e-mfp.eu
Training on Green Inclusive Finance
The e-MFP Green Inclusive and Climate-Smart Finance Action Group is working on expanding its offer of training on Green Inclusive Finance (GIF) with the support of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The training on GIF available in the section ‘Trainings and Workshops’ is being reviewed, translated to French and Spanish, and complemented with audiovisual materials as well as an online self-learning manual. The materials will also be available for in-person trainings.