The International Development Finance Club (IDFC) has appointed Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking (Natixis CIB) to develop a framework for public development banks (PDBs) to align their activities with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Under this advisory mandate, announced on Tuesday at the opening of the second edition of the Finance in Common Summit (FICS) in Rome, Natixis CIB will propose to the IDFC and its 26 members a conceptual framework as well as practical tools and implementation processes to enable them to pursue SDGs alignment. Natixis CIB shared its preliminary findings with the IDFC members ahead of the FICS, and will publish the final study by the end of 2021.

The IDFC aims to position PDBs as core actors in aligning finance with the Paris Agreement and the SDGs. The framework and accompanying tools and processes to be developed by Natixis CIB will contribute to pursuing this goal. Specifically, the objectives are to create a set of principles for IDFC members to follow and provide guidance on the integration of the SDGs into their internal operations and management, and more broadly across their activities.

The IDFC, created in 2011, is the leading group of 26 national and regional development banks from all over the world, the majority of which are active in emerging markets. It is the largest provider of public development and climate finance globally, with US$4 trillion in combined assets and annual commitments above US$600 billion, including US$185 billion of green finance in 2020.

Natixis CIB is a global expert on green and sustainable finance with a strong track record in developing innovative financial solutions to help its clients align their operations with the SDGs. It published its inaugural report on the implementation of the SDGs for issuers and investors as early as 2018, and in 2020 and 2021 supported the governments of Mexico and Benin as well as Agence Française de Développement (AFP)  in their issuance of SDG bonds, acting as sustainability structurer and joint bookrunner in each transaction.

Orith Azoulay, global head of green & sustainable finance at Natixis CIB, says: “The natural remit of public development banks puts them in a paramount position to support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. However, they need conceptual and practical guidance to wholly align their day-to-day operations with the SDGs. Working hand-in-hand with private financial actors, national and local governments, and non-profit organizations is equally crucial as SDG alignment is an ecosystem. We are delighted to have been appointed by the IDFC to develop such a framework, building on our previous work on the SDGs, and we look forward to working with member banks to ensure our recommendations are relevant, practical and impactful.”