“Facing the heat” – How to deepen EBRD’s green transition impact

Evaluation of the EBRD’s Green Economy Transition Approach (2021-2025)

The “GET Approach” (or GET 2.1) is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD's) strategy for the Green Economy Transition (GET) from 2021 to 2025, which sets out a target for more than 50 per cent of the Bank's annual investment to be green financing by 2025.  The objective of this evaluation was to assess the strategic design of GET 2.1, how it was operationalised, and what it has delivered, to provide useful evidence, insights and recommendations for the next iteration of the strategy. 

The evaluation features five recommendations, summarised below: 

1. To maximize the impact of its green finance, the EBRD should strengthen how systemic change is embedded within the new GET strategy, with a focus on developing the structures to learn from where GET finance has most effectively supported systemic change. 

2. To increase the quantity and quality of its adaptation and environmental financing, the EBRD should clearly outline the challenges it has faced in these two distinct areas, articulate the role that the EBRD should play, and improve internal incentives. 

3. To enhance the impact of its green finance through partner financial institutions, the EBRD’s engagement in the financial sector should be focused on expanding green finance at the counterpart-level, in addition to considering use-of-proceeds. 

4. To improve the effectiveness and credibility of its GET finance results, the EBRD should strengthen the use of adequate data to support investment decision-making, performance management and learning.  

5. To improve the effectiveness and the credibility of its green mobilisation efforts, the EBRD should strengthen the process and methodology for estimating GET Private indirect mobilisation (PIM). 

Management agreed with all five recommendations.