Environment and society

Environmental and social management

One  of Finnfund’s key objectives is to generate positive environmental and social impacts in the target countries. Any negative effects are to be prevented and reduced. One of the conditions for receiving financing from Finnfund is that the investee company must meet the corporate environmental and social responsibility requirements set for it. For each project, the company carries out a separate environmental impact assessment and environmental classification before making the investment decision.

In order to qualify for financing, a project must, among other things, meet the environmental requirements set forth in local legislation and the relevant international standards. The target company must be committed to developing an environmental management system covering the matters relevant to its operations, and to reporting to Finnfund on environmental issues regularly.

The Managing Director is responsible for the management of environmental and social risks in cooperation with the Director of Portfolio and Risk Management. The company has two Environmental and Social Advisers and one Development Impact Adviser. The Environmental and Social Advisers ensure that the environmental and social risks of all Finnfund projects are assessed and monitored throughout the project life cycle.

The Environmental and Social Advisers are also responsible for developing Finnfund’s work processes and methods, organising training for the personnel and maintaining international cooperation.

Key environmental and social impacts and risk management

The environmental and social impacts of Finnfund’s operations are primarily indirect and connected to the projects it finances in the target countries. The environmental and social risks as well as the opportunities related to the projects vary significantly based on the sector, target country and a number of other factors. In its financing operations, Finnfund pays special attention to the management and mitigation of environmental and social risks, while also focusing on reinforcing the positive impacts.

Finnfund has prepared environmental guidelines in order to supplement the company’s environmental and social policy. The environmental guidelines document the procedures and responsibilities related to the assessment of environmental and social risks and describe the assessment and monitoring of Finnfund’s projects.

In its corporate environmental and social responsibility assessments, Finnfund complies with the standards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, as well as the procedures and standards Finnfund shares with the other European Development Finance Institutions.

The assessment of environmental and social risks covers the environmental and social risk management systems used by the client companies. An assessment is carried out for all investment projects and, on a case-by-case basis, their subcontracting chains, if these are considered to involve environmental or social risks. This procedure has been integrated into Finnfund’s financing process.

Finnfund aims to maintain close cooperation with its clients in order to avoid adverse environmental and social impacts and improve its clients’ capabilities in related issues.

Climate change

Finnfund aims to finance projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or help adapt to climate change. A significant part of the company’s financing is targeted at projects involving renewable energy or improving energy and material efficiency as well as projects that mitigate climate change. The company does not finance any coal-fired power plants or hydropower projects involving large dams that cause extensive displacement of populations.

In compliance with the requirements of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Finnfund reports to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland regularly on those projects that are significant in terms of climate change prevention and adaptation.

Due to the nature of Finnfund’s operations, the company’s employees must travel to the target countries quite frequently. Therefore, air travel is the most significant factor in the company’s operations causing greenhouse gas emissions, but as a whole and in comparison with the impact generated by the investee companies it is considered minor.

The company aims to control the need for air travel by, for example, developing electronic tools that may replace personal attendance and communication under certain circumstances.

Commuting-related greenhouse gas emissions are curbed by encouraging employees to use public transport by offering them the opportunity to use employer-subsidised commuter tickets and work partially from home.

Water, waste and energy saving

The water consumption and waste generation within the organisation is insignificant.

However, the company aims to improve material efficiency in its operations by, among other things, reducing office paper consumption by means of duplex printing, promoting electronic document management, sorting waste and using energy-saving office equipment and lighting solutions.

The company is not aware of any environmental damage caused by its operations.

In accordance with the international standards followed by Finnfund, the investee companies must improve their resource efficiency by aiming to prevent the generation of waste, recycling the waste that has been generated and operating in a manner that saves water and energy.