Download IFC Definitions and Metrics for Climate

IFC Definitions and Metrics for
Climate-Related Activities
IFC CLIMATE BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
VERSION: 2.2
UPDATED: JUNE 2015
Background
Climate change is a developmental and business issue. Smart business leaders recognize that changes in
temperature and rainfall patterns, rising sea levels, and more frequent natural disasters bring new risks that
must be professionally managed in order for their companies to stay competitive. At the same time as climate
change increasingly strains scarce resources such as water, energy, food, and land, the poorest are and will be
hardest hit because they are the least equipped to adapt to these changes.
As global efforts to address climate change accelerate, IFC recognizes that climate-related interventions led by
the private sector will be critical. Climate finance is likely to flow from a variety of sources and be mobilized
through a wide-range of financial instruments to be used for a broad range of activities. IFC is scaling up its
climate change mitigation work as well as incorporating adaptation and climate risk assessment and
management into private sector investment through its Investment and Advisory Services businesses. IFC
industry groups and regions are setting forward-looking targets to deploy climate finance and this document is
intended to detail how progress against these goals will be measured.
IFC first started tracking climate finance in FY05 and since then has grown its climate business, partnering with
stakeholders and sharing lessons learned with other financial institutions. From FY05 – FY12, climate finance
investment at IFC grew from around $220 million to over $1,600 million, leading to cumulative investments of
$8.09 billion. IFC commitments in the grid-tied power industry shifted from over 70% thermal power to 70%
renewable energy in the last five years. By integrating IFC's advisory and investment offerings to support market
development, IFC is leveraging broader market impacts, supporting clients in growing their businesses, and
addressing barriers to market development. Advisory Services has more than doubled spending in climaterelated activities from under 6% in FY09 to almost 16%, or $29.8 million, in FY12.
IFC’s goals, by FY15, is that climate finance reach 20% of long-term annual commitments and 10% of short-term
commitments, representing a total climate business target for IFC’s own account of over $3 billion. In support of
its ambitious climate finance targets, IFC has also committed to grow its climate-related advisory activities to
25% of total spend, a total of $61.4 million in FY15.
The purpose of this document is to revise and update the guiding principles underlying the definitions and
typology that IFC uses for climate-related investment and advisory projects, originally issued in September 2011.
While past IFC work mostly focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency, this document includes new
mitigation sectors as well as new activities to deploy these, based on lessons learned and consultation with the
broader international financing community. This document also provides guidance on how to classify such
activities.
In addition to climate finance tracking, IFC has been tracking portfolio GHG emissions associated with
investments since FY10. Based on this GHG analysis experience, and driven by an effort to better measure our
impact, IFC developed and rolled out GHG reduction calculation guidance notes for IFC mitigation projects in
FY11. Since then it has expanded and enhanced reference materials based on amassed experience and by
consulting with other MFIs undertaking similar work. As of FY14, IFC will start to report the expected GHG
reductions associated with our investment and advisory projects as IFC Development Goals (IDG).1
1
For more information on IDGs, please visit:
http://www1.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/Topics_Ext_Content/IFC_External_Corporate_Site/IDG_Home/IFCDevelopmentGoals/
3
IFC CLIMATE-RELATED DEFINITIONS AND METRICS
Climate Finance Tracking
This section provides guidance on climate finance tracking and reporting, and how this will be done:

IFC climate finance tracking include all activities classified as Mitigation, Adaptation, and Special Climate
in this document2

IFC climate finance tracking covers all regions and sectors3

Climate finance tracking for IFC investments only includes IFC’s own account financing for climaterelated projects.4 For IFC Advisory Services, it includes IFC expenditures on climate-related activities.5

IFC climate finance tracking volumes only include total commitments from IFC’s own account and
excludes third party financing mobilized on behalf of IFC clients

Where only a subset of activities of a larger project can be classified as climate-related, only the subset
is counted and reported6

Climate finance tracking includes both investments made directly with the ultimate user of the funds,
and investments made indirectly through financial intermediaries

All climate-related investments are counted at the time of Financial Commitment

IFC climate finance tracking is reported by fiscal year7

At the end of each fiscal year, climate finance tracking reporting is audited by a third party
2
Heretofore defined as climate finance.
IFC’s three investment sectors are: Manufacturing‚ Agribusiness and Services, Infrastructure and Natural
Resources, and Financial Markets
4 Investments can include loans, equity, guarantees and client risk management products.
5 Advisory expenditures are the budgeted cost of advisory services delivered.
6 For example, if IFC is financing an existing industrial project for a total of $100M including an EE component of
$30M, IFC would only report the $30M and not the whole facility.
7 July 1 – June 30.
3
4
IFC CLIMATE-RELATED DEFINITIONS AND METRICS
Project Classification
The Mitigation, Adaptation, and Special Climate categories of climate-related activities are defined in the
following sections.
Mitigation implies either reduction in emissions of GHGs into the
atmosphere or absorption of GHGs from the atmosphere.
Mitigation hinges on greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, brought about either by a reduction in GHG emissions
into the atmosphere or absorption of GHGs from the atmosphere.8 GHG reductions can include a reduction in
GHG emissions currently being emitted, or a reduction in emissions brought about by the project compared with
a credible business-as-usual alternative, or sequestration of emissions currently in the atmosphere. The ability
to calculate, report, and verify this mitigation is a prerequisite for this project category. GHG reductions are
measured against a business-as-usual (BAU) baseline as described in the calculation guidance notes.9 For
tracking these GHG reductions, IFC follows the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Project Protocol for terminology and
approach, namely:10
1) Relevance: Use data, methods, criteria, and assumptions that are appropriate for the intended use of
reported information
2) Completeness: Consider all relevant information that may affect the accounting and quantification of
GHG reductions, and complete all requirements
3) Consistency: Use data, methods, criteria, and assumptions that allow meaningful and valid comparisons
4) Transparency: Provide clear and sufficient information for reviewers to assess the credibility and
reliability of GHG reduction claims
5) Accuracy: Reduce uncertainties as much as is practical
6) Conservativeness: Use conservative assumptions, values, and procedures when uncertainty is high
IFC also draws upon methodologies from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCC) Clean Development Mechanism as well as other internationally accepted standards as needed. These
are referenced as necessary in each IFC guidance note on calculating GHG reductions of projects.
Investment and Advisory Services mitigation projects can directly or indirectly reduce GHG emissions. Direct (or
firm level) mitigation activities are GHG reductions that occur at an IFC client’s operation. Indirect mitigation
result in GHG reductions at a third party site, which results from an IFC investment or from market or sector
level advice provided through an intermediary. These are described in further detail in the following sections:
8
Heretofore referred to as GHG reductions.
GHG Reduction Guidance Notes and other materials can be downloaded at: http://www.ifc.org/ghgaccounting .
10 http://www.ghgprotocol.org/standards/project-protocol .
9
5
IFC CLIMATE-RELATED DEFINITIONS AND METRICS
DIRECT MITIGATION
Direct mitigation activities result in GHG reductions attributable to changes in an IFC client’s operation as a
result of IFC investments or advice. Through investments, IFC finances projects resulting in GHG reductions.
Through advisory services, clients contract IFC to provide technical assistance to their operations leading to GHG
reductions. Both are subject to ex ante appraisal of GHG emissions and other environmental and social impacts
as well as ex post verification upon project completion and operation to ensure project objectives were met.
Project categories that qualify as direct mitigation are as follows:
1) Renewable energy generation (RE) (including greenfield) of electrical and/or thermal energy from the
following sources:
a. Wind
b. Geothermal
c. Solar
d. Biomass (that does not deplete existing terrestrial carbon pools)
e. Tidal and other ocean
f. Hydropower
g. Biofuels
2) Energy efficiency (EE):
a. Energy savings in existing industrial operations, utilities, and commercial and residential
buildings
b. Technical loss reductions in existing transmission and distribution operations
c. Energy efficiency improvement in existing thermal power plants
d. Green buildings (greenfield)
e. Manufacturing energy efficiency (greenfield)11
f. Cogeneration of useful thermal energy and electricity
g. Waste Heat Recovery
3) Agriculture, Forestry, and Land Use (AFOLU):
a. Aforestation and reforestation (enhanced GHG removals)
b. Sustainable forest management (that does not deplete existing terrestrial carbon pools)
c. Reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+)
d. Reduced emissions or enhanced removal in terrestrial carbon pools through no till agribusiness
e. Revegetation (enhanced GHG removals)
4) Waste Management:
a. Methane capture and destruction
b. Waste-to-energy generation (including wastewater)
c. Waste incineration
11
Applicable to activities meeting global energy-use standards ensuring best-in-class technologies and providing
demonstration value within markets of operation.
6
IFC CLIMATE-RELATED DEFINITIONS AND METRICS
d. Selected waste recycling projects that recover or reuse materials and waste as inputs into new
products or as a resource
e. Composting
5) Transport:
a. Efficiency improvements, through retrofit or replacement, of existing fleets of aircraft, road or
rail vehicles or boats
b. Urban mass transit improvements (existing and greenfield)
c. Transport management improvements through improved traffic systems and vehicle restriction
policies (e.g. high-occupancy vehicle lanes)
d. Shifts from existing transport to less-GHG intensive modes of transport (with verifiable
displacement)
6) Other Mitigation:
a. Industrial process improvements and cleaner production GHG reductions (existing)
b. Retrofits or replacement of existing heating and cooling systems with reduced global warming
potential refrigerants (existing)
c. Carbon capture and storage (CCS)
d. Fuel switches in existing operations to lower-GHG fuels
e. Decrease in fugitive GHG emissions in existing operations
7) Carbon Markets:
a. Carbon markets and finance (including the purchase, sale, trading, financing, guarantee and
technical assistance) includes all activities related to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM),
Joint Implementation (JI), and Emissions Trading associated with Assigned Amount Units as well
as standards like the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) or the Gold Standard.
INDIRECT MITIGATION12
To scale-up mitigation impacts through all private sector interventions available, IFC also promotes indirect
mitigation where activity by an IFC client leads to GHG reductions by third parties. Mitigation categories 1-7
(above) are considered as indirect mitigation if enabled by climate finance or AS market-level interventions
through IFC clients. These projects are still subject to ex ante appraisal and ex post verification up to the project
boundaries. As data availability is the main constraint for these calculations, a defensible GHG reduction
calculation is the main requirement through applying principles of conservativeness. Projects where data is not
available and verification requirements are not met are not classified as mitigation.
The following interventions can also be considered indirect mitigation:
1) Climate-Related Products:
a. Manufacture and sale of finished products that when used result in increased RE generation by
others
b. Manufacture and sale of finished products that when used result in EE in others’ operations
c. Manufacture and sale of finished products that when used enable others to decrease or destroy
GHGs
12
Indirect mitigation implies GHG reductions and requires ex post verification. Where data are not available,
indirect mitigation are classified as Special Climate (see below section).
7
IFC CLIMATE-RELATED DEFINITIONS AND METRICS
2) Mitigation through Financial Intermediaries (FI):
a. Finance of mitigation activities (1-7, above) through financial intermediaries
b. Technical advice and standards for financial institutions that enable mitigation activities
3) Advisory Services Market-Level Activities:
a. Technical advice and standards in market transformation programs where barriers to adoption
of technologies or practices are addressed
b. Policy-related work that results in GHG reductions
CALCULATING AND REPORTING GHG REDUCTIONS
As mitigation projects require a GHG reduction calculation, the following procedures and assumptions apply:
1. GHG reductions are calculated according to IFC GHG Reduction Calculation Guidance Notes.13
2. Project GHG reductions are calculated ex ante project implementation based on appraisal data and the
client’s business plan at the time of IFC’s investment decision
3. The GHG reduction calculation is an ex ante project target to be achieved and verified ex post
4. Projects are counted at the Financial Commitment stage of the IFC project cycle
5. IFC reports the whole GHG reduction of an activity14
6. GHG reductions are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (tCO2e)
7. GHGs considered are: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)
8. To avoid double counting GHG reductions, IFC will disaggregate reporting by investment and advisory
services as well as by direct and indirect mitigation
9. When reporting GHG reductions, IFC will report by fiscal year (July 1 – June 30)
13
These are also being updated and are available at: www.ifc.org/ghgaccounting
GHG reductions are not prorated based on IFC percentage of project financing. The purpose is to report to
stakeholders the actual project impact that IFC is enabling.
14
8
IFC CLIMATE-RELATED DEFINITIONS AND METRICS
Adaptation implies reduction in the vulnerability of human or
natural systems to the impacts of climate change and climate
variability related risks by maintaining or increasing adaptive
capacity and resilience.
Adaptation projects are IFC investments or advisory services that incorporate information about climate change
risks into decision-making (ex ante) and, by directly addressing identified risks, vulnerabilities, or impacts:
i.
reduce the risk, exposure or sensitivity to climate change
ii.
increase climate resilience
iii.
build problem solving capacity to develop responses to identified risks, vulnerabilities or impacts
iv.
address impacts directly linked to climate change
while avoiding inadvertent increases in vulnerability of systems or social groups, and avoiding placing assets or
systems in harm’s way. It follows from the definition of adaptation that good development in and of itself often
contributes to adaptation. To avoid mislabeling of all development activities as adaptation, which by nature is
context-specific, activities will be recorded as adaptation if a project’s appraisal and supporting documents
contain identification of specific and relevant climate change-related risks and vulnerabilities, and how the
proposed measures will directly address them.
9
IFC CLIMATE-RELATED DEFINITIONS AND METRICS
Special Climate are activities that contribute to mitigation, but for
which no IFC approved GHG reduction calculation methodology
exists.
Special Climate activities contribute to GHG reductions yet actual GHG reductions are neither easily nor credibly
quantifiable:
i.
Mitigation activities (1-7, above) for which information and data is available to determine that a
GHG reduction will result yet not sufficient to quantify the exact amount;15
ii.
Activities that support mitigation activities (1-7, above) where the actual contribution to GHG
reductions is not attributable to the enabling activity; and
iii.
New mitigation project types where the absence of an approved GHG reduction methodology, due
to data constraints, requires IFC to rely on external and independently verifiable research to
ensure mitigation benefits16
IFC would count the climate financing and AS spend associated with these project but, as a matter of
conservativeness, would not attribute any GHG reduction.
Special Climate activities include:
1) Mitigation activities for which quantifying GHG emission reduction impacts are not possible due to
methodological limitations:
a. Mitigation activities for which a GHG reduction calculation is not credibly quantifiable for lack
of client specific data due to legal or privacy concerns, high uncertainty, or the activity is too far
removed for data collection and verification.
b. Climate-related products (as defined earlier as Mitigation) financed through FIs
c. New mitigation project types
2) Activities that support mitigation activities:
a. Critical climate-related product components and other inputs intended for use in climaterelated products.17 Examples (but not limited to) of these include:
i. RE-specific energy storage
ii. Transmission lines connecting RE to national grids
15
Government and private sector clients may not be able to share all technical details due to privacy or legal
restrictions.
16 While onsite water savings can reduce onsite energy use and be classified as Mitigation, some projects reduce
water consumption for solely water saving purposes with no onsite energy benefits. IFC would still classify the
latter as Special Climate as there is sufficient external research linking water use to energy use at the macro level
and, therefore, any water saving can be linked to energy saving (and not vice-versa) even though the actual
energy saving cannot be verified.
17 Finished climate-related products are treated as mitigation as an increase in sales of these is directly related
with an increase in mitigation. In support of the products, IFC also includes the manufacture and production of
critical inputs and components to these climate-related product as they are essential to these products but harder
to link with an increase in mitigation. An example of critical inputs can be solar paste production for use in solar
panels or blades for wind turbines.
10
IFC CLIMATE-RELATED DEFINITIONS AND METRICS
iii. Aluminum paste as an input into solar panels
iv. Wind turbine blades
b. Trade and short-term financing specific to climate-related activities through financial
intermediaries18
c. Advisory services that enable GHG reductions:
i. Capacity building
ii. Research and Studies
iii. Advocacy activities
iv. Knowledge sharing
CLIMATE METRICS STEERING COMMITTEE
All climate-related projects are subject to review by the Climate Finance and Policy Unit (CBDFP) in collaboration
with regional and/or global climate change teams to determine a project's eligibility based on IFC's current
definitions and metrics. For new project types not currently included in the definitions or in case of
disagreement with CBDFP on climate-related eligibility, the project team can bring the activity in question to the
attention of the Climate Metrics Steering Committee for resolution. This Steering Committee will be comprised
of six members drawn from the Climate Business Management Team representing Manufacturing‚ Agribusiness
and Services, Infrastructure and Natural Resources, Financial Markets, Advisory Services, the Environment,
Social, and Governance Department, and the Climate Business Department. In the event the Steering
Committee is unable to agree on a decision, the matter can be referred for final decision to the CBD Director, if
related to climate finance tracking, or to the CBD Director and the Director of Development Impact Department
(CDI) to decide jointly, if related to GHG reductions.
18
Short-term finance also supports existing mitigation projects and will be categorized as Special Climate, report
climate finance volumes, and exclude GHG reductions to avoid double counting the same mitigation project if
operations remain unaffected.
11
IFC CLIMATE-RELATED DEFINITIONS AND METRICS
IFC Climate Business Department
2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20433
For more information, please visit:
http://www.ifc.org/climatebusiness