Annual Report 2025
The 2025 Annual Report of the Green Investment Principles (GIP) offers a detailed assessment of sustainable finance progress across the Belt and Road region, grounded in a four-pillar framework: Governance and Strategy, Risk Assessment and Management, Investment and Corporate Footprint, and Disclosure and Engagement.
Compared with the previous two years, this year’s result finds that members’ overall performance remains largely stable, with notable progress in certain areas. Sustainability is now woven into organisations’ governance frameworks, and many have begun tying executive and employee incentives to ESG outcomes in a more structured way. Institutions are also becoming more adept at spotting climate-related risks, conducting deeper sector-specific analysis, and strengthening the management of their supply chains. On the investment and carbon-footprint side, green-finance tracking systems are being put in place across most institutions, Belt and Road green investment activity continues to grow, and more members are starting to quantify emissions from both their own operations and their broader portfolios. While more institutions report on governance, strategy, and other foundational areas, though fewer institutions provided detailed disclosures on climate and biodiversity this year.
Governance and Strategy
Signatories have made strides progress in embedding sustainability into corporate governance frameworks and strategic decision-making processes. All 34 respondents to the survey have successfully integrated sustainability into their governance structures. Notably, 94% adopted sustainability strategies and set up internal climate reporting mechanisms. Furthermore, 76% of respondents linked ESG performance to executive compensation, while 59% linked employee remuneration to sustainability outcomes. On the climate front, 94% of member institutions placed climate risks and opportunities under the direct oversight of their boards. However, integration into decision-making processes such as budgeting and target-setting declined slightly from last year. Additionally, 68% of institutions that participated in the survey committed to phasing out carbon-intensive projects, such as coal power, while 41% pledged not to finance any new carbon-intensive projects. Moreover, 76% of signatories set carbon neutrality targets, with 64% targeting carbon neutrality for their operations and 58% for their investment portfolios. These results demonstrate that a significant number of GIP members are actively taking responsibility for climate action.
Risk Assessment and Management
All signatories have established frameworks or policies to identify, assess, and manage environmental and social risks and opportunities. Over time, these frameworks expanded to include assessments of climate, biodiversity, and supply chain risks. Nearly every institution has adopted them, and more are now conducting scenario analysis and stress testing. The results of these analyses are being integrated into disclosures, with risk management policies updated accordingly. More than half of the institutions have conducted risk assessments tailored to specific sectors. For the first time, the questionnaire included comprehensive content on the identification of climate-related opportunities, and the results reveal that over 80% of signatories assessed climate opportunities. Additionally, signatories are placing greater emphasis on biodiversity factors, including habitats, water resources, and ecologically sensitive areas, integrating these considerations into their project risk assessments. Half of the institutions explicitly committed to biodiversity, such as endorsing the Joint Declaration on Support for Biodiversity Conservation by Banking and Financial Institutions. ESG factors are also increasingly prominent in supply chain management: 79% of institutions incorporate ESG criteria into their supplier practices, with some developing green supply chain finance products and services.
Investment and Corporate Footprint
A significant proportion of signatories actively measure and manage their green investments and investments along Belt and Road, with many institutions introducing incentive mechanisms to expand these activities. Additionally, numerous signatories have begun developing innovative financial products focused on biodiversity and transition finance. Nearly all signatories track the volume of investments supported by green financial instruments, with almost half also monitoring the volume of Belt and Road investments financed in this manner. In the context of transition finance, around half of institutions are identifying and collecting data on the carbon-intensive assets they own or manage. These institutions are implementing progressive strategies to guide clients in these sectors towards reducing their emissions. Approximately three-quarters of institutions have integrated transition finance into their strategic planning and corporate governance, consistent with the previous year.
On sustainable finance product innovation, 41% of institutions have developed products related to biodiversity, while 56% have introduced products focused on transition finance—an improvement from the previous year. Bonds and loans remain the most widely used instruments, each accounting for 66% of these efforts. Furthermore, 85% of signatories have quantified the carbon footprint of their operations, and 64% have assessed the emissions associated with their portfolios—both figures increased compared to previous years. These developments reflect a growing emphasis on understanding and addressing the carbon impact of both operational activities and investments.
Disclosures and Engagement
Most signatories disclose information on governance, strategy, risk management frameworks, and green asset management. However, the reporting of quantitative information remains uneven, and the level of detail provided varies significantly. The number of signatories disclosing on climate risks and biodiversity has decreased compared to the previous year. On a more positive note, stakeholder engagement has improved, with more signatories reporting structured engagement with clients, regulators, and other stakeholders. Looking ahead, as global sustainability standards converge and climate action intensifies, signatories will need to implement long-term mechanisms for stakeholder engagement. Additionally, they will need to significantly strengthen their disclosures, particularly to align with emerging policy frameworks and regulatory requirements.
GIP Annual Report 2025 (English).pdf
GIP Annual Report 2025 (Chinese).pdf