Banks triumph in Green TFP awards

Event at EBRD Annual Meeting in Morocco promotes the importance of trade in environmentally friendly technology and goods

The TFP has recognised the most successful banks under its Green Trade Facilitation Programme (Green TFP) with awards for their performance in 2021.

The Green TFP allows partner banks to use their existing trade finance facilities to finance exports, imports and local distribution of imported green technologies and materials, in line with the EBRD’s Green Economy Transition (GET) approach. The EBRD’s strategic goal is to become a majority green bank by 2025.

The 2021 winners are as follows:

The prize for the Most Active Issuing Bank in 2021 – Green Trade went to Piraeus Bank in Greece. The bank facilitated the highest number of transactions under the Green TFP as an issuing bank, with a total GHG emission-reductions impact equivalent to taking 1,000 cars off the streets of Athens.

The prize for the Most Active Confirming Bank in 2021 – Green Trade was awarded to UBS. The bank successfully supported the highest number of transactions under the Green TFP as a confirming bank, with an annual GHG emission-reductions impact equivalent to the carbon footprint of 3,400 Swiss households.

Prizes for Deal of the Year – Green Trade were awarded to:

  • Ameriabank and Banca Popolare di Sondrio, jointly, for saving water resources in Armenia through the import of a modern bottling line, with a water-savings impact equivalent to the annual fresh water consumption of 440 Armenian households.
  • Piraeus Bank and Hellenic Bank, jointly, for promoting renewable energy in Cyprus through the installation of photovoltaic plants, resulting in renewable energy generation equivalent to the electrical energy consumption of 1,175 inhabitants of Cyprus.
  • Alpha Bank Greece and UniCredit Bank Austria, jointly, for supporting circularity in the PET plastics sector in Greece, resulting in the annual production of approximately 460,000 half-litre PET bottles from recycled plastic.
  • Alpha Bank Romania and Intesa Sanpaolo, jointly, for promoting responsible forest management by supporting trade in sustainably sourced secondary wood products, by facilitating the production of approximately 250 single entry doors from FSC certified timber, saving approximately 800 trees.
  • Uzpromstroybank and JP Morgan, jointly, for improving the energy efficiency of the retail sector in Uzbekistan, resulting in energy savings equivalent to the energy consumption of 24,249 inhabitants of Uzbekistan.

The Green TFP Awards were announced during the TFP Information Session at the 2022 EBRD Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Marrakech, Morocco, with Ksenia Brockmann, EBRD Green Financial System Associate Director, presenting the awards.

Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director, Financial Institutions, said: “The EBRD is becoming a majority green bank by 2025, and remains committed to promoting green and sustainable trade finance. This would not have been possible without the strong cooperation and commitment of our partner banks. The EBRD will continue to support the transition to a green economy alongside our efforts responding to the war on Ukraine.”

From 2016 to 2021, the Green TFP has supported 1,318 foreign trade transactions involving trade in climate change adaptation and mitigation technologies and materials, with a total volume of €1.3 billion across 26 economies where the EBRD invests.

Click here for a video of the awards.

The EBRD is becoming a majority green bank by 2025, and remains committed to promoting green and sustainable trade finance. This would not have been possible without the strong cooperation and commitment of our partner banks."

Francis Malige

EBRD Managing Director, Financial Institutions