AIIB's Climate Scorecard

As the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) hosts its fifth Annual Meeting – this time virtual due to Covid-19 – Recourse, in partnership with NGO Forum on ADB, has launched the latest in its series of factsheets and infographics, tracking the AIIB’s climate record.

The AIIB’s Climate Scorecard examines the bank’s continued bias towards fossil fuels in its investments. It looks at the AIIB’s policies and commitments to date and maps them against a set of eight ‘climate essentials’ for multilateral development banks (MDBs). Out of the eight indicators, AIIB has made no progress on five, for example, it does not yet have a climate action plan in place. It has made some progress on three essentials, but two of these rely on the AIIB’s Corporate Strategy that is being developed behind closed doors without civil society input.

It’s not all bad news: the AIIB has the opportunity to switch direction and step up on climate change. The bank’s ongoing Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) review has identified climate as a key issue that needs addressing. Also, in November, public development banks, including a group of nine MDBs who have come together to align their activities with the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, will be meeting under the Finance in Common banner to ‘implement the transition to a low carbon and resilient economy’. This presents a chance for the AIIB to step up and move from the back of the pack to a leadership position on climate.

For more information, see AIIB’s Climate Scorecard.