contact
our team
caroline bright
corporate governance lead
+122-123-456789
name@ifc.org
Belgrade, Serbia
europe and central asia
Environmental, Social And Governance Advisory Services
Environmental, Social And Governance Advisory Services
Current environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices of many companies in emerging markets are inadequate, resulting in external costs on the environment and society and leading to a lack of investor confidence and criticism by civil society and other stakeholders.
IFC’s global presence and unique experience are helping companies improve their ESG performance and helping to bring international best practices to local markets, while building market movers.
The ESG Advisory leverages IFC expertise and knowledge to address systemic obstacles to investment and support clients to adopt good international practice. It uses an integrated program to systematically address ESG challenges, build capacity, and remove bottlenecks.
ESG Advisory is delivered through a continuum of engagements to support business priorities.
Discover IFC’s globally recognized benchmarks for environmental and social risk management and corporate governance:
IFC’s Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability and Corporate Governance Methodology.
The Program aims to support the development of a range of market mechanisms to promote, incentivize and assist firms with the adoption of better ESG practices, contributing to their ability to attract sustainable investment. The Program will focus on governance practices that support sustainability, and promoting the adoption of ESG standards in the financial sector.
Supporting the Integration of ESG Standards into guidelines, codes and regulations. The Program will strengthen the regulatory environment for ESG to provide local guidance and level the playing field across the market. Special focus will be placed on supporting regulators from the financial sector, both banking and capital markets regulators.
Building capacity of local intermediaries to promote, train and advise on ESG Standards, focusing on the governance of sustainability practices in selected sectors and promoting ESG Standards in the financial sector in particular. We are building a network of local organizations that can offer services and promote ESG in the future.
Financial Institutions ESG Integration Uptake: Supporting financial intermediaries, such as banks, private equity funds, and other institutional investors, to integrate ESG into their investment operations. This includes identifying and managing ESG risk through the adoption of E&S Risk Management (ESRM) Systems, and improving ESG practices by enhancing corporate governance, governance of E&S, and ESG disclosure.
Real Sector Firm Uptake: Supporting companies to become ESG leaders by providing hands-on support to improve their ESG practices, ranging from corporate governance which integrates E&S oversight, the establishment of E&S Management Systems (ESMS), and ESG reporting and disclosure.
Promoting good ESG practices based on IFC's long standing global and regional leadership in ESG. This includes demonstration of the business case for good ESG practices in order to build demand and increase uptake by firms and financial institutions.
IFC ESG Standards Program in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is delivered in partnership with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO).
We work with businesses to identify their ESG gaps, critical risks, and opportunities. We provide tailormade and cost-effective ESG solutions to support the sustainable growth of companies.
IFC’s range of ESG offerings cover the following components:
To help a company set up a corporate governance structure and establish good practices, and to integrate environmental and social issues into processes for high-level decision making, strategy setting, and risk management. Our specialists will work closely with a company to understand its governance practices and business context and to recommend improvements the company can take to achieve its strategic objectives, development plans and ambitions. Our support ranges from conducting an initial diagnostic, through support and guidance on implementation of recommendations, as well as workshops and trainings on specific ESG topics. Our approach is founded on the IFC Corporate Governance methodology, which was recently updated to include governance of environmental and social risks, and the related tools and guidance materials
To assist a company or a financial institution with building its capacity to assess environmental and social risks and manage its impacts in operations through construction, deployment, and institutionalization of ESMS into core business operations. Our services can include a diagnostic, support with implementation, and workshops to build capacity. The approach is based upon IFC’s Performance Standard 1, and the related ESMS diagnostic and toolkits for financial institutions and for the real sector. For the financial sector, this includes building the bank’s internal capacity to oversee, assess and manage environmental and social risks of its portfolio, through providing practical guidance using IFC’s suite of tools for ESG risk management for FIs.
To support an organization to improve its reporting and disclosure, in order to demonstrate its leadership in ESG practices. This support can range from conducting a gap analysis and diagnostic of a company’s existing ESG disclosure and transparency framework, and underlying policies and procedures related to its strategy, governance and performance, through to assistance with the preparation of its Annual Report in line with the good international practice, considering local legislation and the client and their stakeholder priorities. IFC can help in the organization of the internal system of public reporting, data collection and reporting process, benchmarking and reviewing of ESG KPIs. We can deliver training for staff, management and Board, and facilitate strategy sessions on setting ESG KPIs.