산은, Green Climate Fund Accredited Entity Re-Certification Obtained

Following the initial certification in 2016, reaccreditation approval obtained at the 32nd GCF Board of Directors meeting

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] The Korea Development Bank (KDB) announced on the 23rd that it has obtained re-certification as an accredited entity at the 32nd Board of Directors meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) held from the 16th to the 19th in Antigua and Barbuda. The Green Climate Fund is a UNFCCC-affiliated multilateral climate fund established in Songdo, Incheon, aimed at providing financial support for greenhouse gas mitigation and climate change adaptation in developing countries.

Since October last year, KDB underwent a rigorous re-certification review process conducted by the GCF Secretariat (first stage) and external expert reviewers (second stage), and the re-certification was finally approved (third stage) by the Board of Directors at this meeting.

The re-certification review included an evaluation of KDB’s internal capabilities, systems, and frameworks to promote global climate change projects as an accredited entity, its climate finance performance and future plans, sustainable management policies including environmental, social, and gender equality aspects, and its ability to conduct transparent and fair project execution, covering the bank’s overall system. Through this re-certification, KDB demonstrated that it possesses internal financial systems, institutional frameworks, project execution capabilities, and sustainable management policies and plans at a global standard level comparable to international organizations and advanced financial institutions, according to KDB.

Unlike recent delays in certification by financial institutions such as Japan’s SMBC and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, KDB’s re-certification proposal received full support from both developed and developing country board members. In particular, KDB’s climate finance framework supporting the government’s 2050 carbon neutrality policy, rapid green finance transition (including expansion of renewable energy financing), and carbon net-zero programs were positively evaluated.

KDB stated, "As the first and only GCF accredited entity in the domestic financial sector, we are discovering and promoting various cooperative projects with GCF, including support projects for promising domestic climate technology companies to expand overseas." It added, "Taking this GCF re-certification as an opportunity, we will continue to discover climate change response projects such as carbon reduction in developing countries by utilizing diverse financial products and overseas project financial advisory and arrangement experience, and strengthen our partnership with GCF to further solidify our position as a specialized climate finance institution in the global financial market."