25 posts found.
Selected Category: Sustainability
Finnfund reviews the implementation of its Human Rights Statement
At the beginning of 2019, Finnfund introduced a Human Rights Statement to guide our work in respecting and promoting human rights in all our operations. The statement is based on the key principle that as a development financier and impact investor, human rights are at the very core of our work. Finnfund is now reviewing […]
Read moreSeptember 24, 2021
Discovering outcomes in gender-lens investing
By Juho Uusihakala, Finnfund; Ilona Mooney, Work Ahead; and Nilah Mitchell, 60 Decibels The article has originally been published in The catalytic effects of DFI investment – gender equality, climate action and the harmonisation of impact standards by ODI. Abstract Gender-lens investing has quickly become a priority for many development finance institutions (DFIs). The 2X […]
Read moreAugust 13, 2021
New statement on climate and energy will guide Finnfund’s climate actions
Finnfund has adopted a new statement on climate and energy. With this statement, Finnfund expresses its commitment to the objectives of the Paris Agreement and explains what this commitment means in practice for its portfolio management, investment process and measuring of the portfolio’s carbon footprint. Finnfund strives to take the lead among development financiers in […]
Read moreJune 30, 2021
New open-access FRESCOS Tool launched for accounting the carbon sequestration in forestry projects
Four European development finance institutions (DFI) – CDC Group (UK), Finnfund (Finland), FMO (Netherlands), and Swedfund (Sweden) – together with Simosol, an IT company, have today launched the FRESCOS Tool, a web-based, open-access tool to account for the carbon sequestration of afforestation and reforestation projects. The overall goal of the FRESCOS Tool is to better […]
Read moreJune 29, 2021
Thoughts left by 2020, part 1: Global thinking becomes more relevant after the pandemic
The year 2020 not only marked our lives forever, but it also made us think about our current living habits and how sustainable is our life on this planet. More than a year ago, back in February 2020, I was not aware that my last “in person” monitoring mission for 2020 was taking place at that precise moment. I was leaving […]
Read moreMay 6, 2021
Finnfund first development financier to report carbon net-negative investment portfolio
Finnish development financier and impact investor Finnfund today released data showing that its total investment portfolio has a net negative carbon balance. The figures for 2019 indicate that Finnfund’s investments removed 134,679 tCO2e more than they emitted. In 2019, Finnfund’s investment portfolio was EUR 617 million. “I am extremely proud that we have been able to […]
Read moreMay 4, 2021
Finnfund assesses the implementation and results of its tax policy
In early 2018, Finnfund introduced a tax policy to support responsible tax practices in its projects. Now, Finnfund has reviewed the implementation, results and potential development needs of that policy. How has Finnfund’s tax policy been implemented in practice? What kind of results have we achieved because of this policy? Finnfund’s tax policy is founded […]
Read moreMarch 4, 2021
Managing environmental and social risks is a key part of impact investing
There is a lot of buzz about sustainable finance, responsible investment, sustainable investment, ESG investing, impact investing and environmental and social impacts of investments. All this is diverse terminology aimed at communicating the positive changes and developments an investment can have. Depending on the perspective, slightly different things are meant by the different terms. As […]
Read moreFebruary 25, 2021
The fascinating (and long) journey of our human rights approach
Building a human rights due diligence approach for a development financier like Finnfund is a long and fascinating journey. It’s not only about building systems and developing processes but about building people and changing the thinking. It has also been a journey for me. This blog is not about me, but given that I have […]
Read moreJanuary 22, 2021
Ticking boxes or setting goals? Gender lens investing is a dialogue
Finnfund has since April 2019 invested over 121 million euros in companies that promote women’s empowerment in developing countries. I stopped to think what we have achieved in the past two years: We have joined two gender finance communities, implemented gender equality issues into our investment process through our gender statement and participated in defining […]
Read moreNovember 11, 2020