Carbon Footprint of Bank Loans

Sources: OECD (2021), OECD Inter-Country Input-Output Database, [https://oe.cd/icio]; International Monetary Fund (IMF), Statistics Department Questionnaire; IMF staff calculations. Category: Climate Finance Data series: * Carbon Footprint of Bank Loans (Based on emission intensities) * Carbon Footprint of Bank Loans (Based on emission intensities - normalized) * Carbon Footprint of Bank Loans (Based on emission multipliers) * Carbon Footprint of Bank Loans (Based on emission multipliers - normalized) Metadata: For relevant literature see Guan, Rong, Haitao Zheng, Jie Hu, Qi Fang, and Ruoen Ren. 2017. “The Higher Carbon Intensity of Loans, the Higher Non-Performing Loan Ratio: The Case of China.” Sustainability 9 (4) (April 22): 667. [https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su9040667]. Methodology: The IMF has developed the Carbon Footprint of Bank Loans (CFBL) indicator for selected countries. CFBL indicator requires (i) deposit takers’ domestic loans by industry data, and (ii) the estimation of carbon emission factors (CEFs) by industry. The IMF has conducted a data collection exercise to obtain deposit takers’ domestic loans by industry data. The CEFs are calculated based on (i) direct metric tons of carbon emissions from fuel consumption per million $US of output by country and industry (CO2 emission intensities), and (ii) direct and indirect carbon emissions from fuel consumption per million $US of output by country (CO2 emission multipliers). The output multipliers and carbon emission intensities for 66 countries and 45 industries are sourced from the OECD Input-Output Database. Direct and indirect carbon emission factors are calculated by multiplying the Leontief inverse (also known as input-output multipliers) from the OECD World Input-Output Table by the carbon emissions from fuel consumption intensities. CFBL indicator is obtained by multiplying domestic loans to a specific industry by their corresponding carbon emission factors, summing over all industries and dividing the final result by total domestic loans. For a limited number of countries, updated CFBL information until 2018 will be posted in due course. CFBL is an experimental indicator. The index requires a nuanced reading. For instance, a sharp increase in the share of a brown industry in the deposit takers’ loans portfolio may create a negative impact on this indicator in the short term, but longer term results could diverge significantly if these loans were allocated for transition to low carbon environment or for continuing unsustainable brown activities. The emission coefficients applied to loans related to the emissions of the industry and not the emissions resulting from the consumption of the goods the industry produces. Also, the estimation methodology has a number of limitations. First, class level ISIC data could be more appropriate for the CFBL estimation, as it offers more detailed information to evaluate carbon footprint by industry. However, carbon emission factors are not available at this granularity. Also, the ISIC structure is not fully aligned with the needs of climate finance. Second, the granularity of the deposit takers’ domestic loans by industry data availability is not fully consistent across jurisdictions. It is not possible to obtain the loans by industry data at the same level of granularity from all participating countries. Third, the country coverage is limited as carbon intensity factors are available for only 66 countries. Fourth, input-output multipliers have limiting assumptions. Input-output multipliers are static (i.e., assume that there is a fixed input structure and fixed ratios for production for each industry) and do not take into account supply-side constraints or budget constraints. Please see additional information in this [link].