Supporting banks for the financing of the sustainable management of tropical rainforests

The Brazilian Amazon Basin, Congo Basin and Indonesia house the three main tropical rainforest areas in the world. The substantial needs for natural resources brought about by growth and globalization and the pressure on the environment of these regions have been particularly acute over the past 40 years. Deforestation is the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions in countries in these three regions. Transcribing environmental issues into economic data is one of the major challenges of a transition towards a more sustainable development model.  

In the Congo Basin, the priority area targeted by the project, operators in the sector have difficulties in accessing bank credit. Some have already made the ambitious choice of sustainable development and, in certain cases, certification, which lead to heavier and different investment needs. Yet the loans offered by local banks are inappropriate. The banking sector in these regions has difficulties mobilizing expertise able to combine the fields of finance and sustainable development, in order to reduce its perception of the risk of such activities. Local banks, which are lagging behind in terms of the Social and Environmental approach, sometimes continue to finance unsustainable economic activities. With a better knowledge of the issues and the advantage of sustainable forest exploitation, they could choose to give priority to financing companies which conduct it and thereby create a knock-on effect.