GCPF LAUNCHES GREEN LENDING FORUM

When GCPF assembled representatives of 19 partner institutions from 13 countries for the first GCPF Academy in September 2016, they were asked about their challenges and needs in taking green lending forward in their respective markets. The answer was unanimous: What was needed most was a platform for networking and knowledge exchange. Until practitioners next meet in person – the second GCPF Academy is scheduled for September 2018 – GCPF is offering them an online platform for exchange and knowledge transfer: the GREEN LENDING FORUM. Eva Tschannen, Head of Technical Assistance for GCPF at responsAbility, explains the offering and rationale behind it.

WHAT IS THE GREEN LENDING FORUM?

Eva: The GREEN LENDING FORUM is an online knowledge exchange platform targeting green lending practitioners. To enable this exchange, a members’ section enables continued information sharing within the green lending community. The platform furthermore informs about services we can provide for our partner financial institutions and features interviews and stories on green lending as well as upcoming webinars and events.

HOW DID YOU DECIDE ON THE CONTENTS?

The GCPF team spends a lot of time in exchange with partner institutions, helping them overcome challenges and make green lending happen in their markets. The GCPF Academy clearly showed that many of these challenges are faced by several, if not all, institutions. This is why we decided to create a green lending knowledge platform that would make the know-how available to all partners within the GCPF network. In addition, the green lending community is an interactive space where members can share information, respond to their peers’ posts and put questions to our experts. The members’ only section is restricted to active partners within our network and therefore provides sufficient confidentiality for our partners to participate and also propose contents.

YOU MENTIONED EVENTS: CAN YOU GIVE AN EXAMPLE?

From January through April 2018, we hosted a whole series of training sessions regarding E&S risk management, which has been identified as one challenge when it comes to introducing climate loans. The event targeted E&S experts of our partner banks and was designed in a highly participative way. In addition, we invited internal and external experts to share best practices, and the reactions have been overwhelmingly positive.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF WEBINARS?

Here, we are focusing on very specific topics that can be explained by an expert in a targeted presentation. For our first webinar we chose the topic of Off-grid solar finance through SPVs. The live webinar alone attracted almost 100 participants, and the recorded version is available online.

THE FORUM HAS JUST BEEN LAUNCHED. WHAT’S NEXT?

Having set up the platform, we will continue to fill it with relevant material. Check in regularly to find new information or, better still, follow us on LinkedIn @investing-in-energy-efficiency-and-renewable-energy.