Initiatives of international organizations for the development of sustainable financing tools

Abstract

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic and the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation have created many difficulties for doing business in Ukraine. However, despite the existing challenges, representatives of domestic business continue to adhere to the standards of sustainable development. In turn, financial institutions, as well as the financial regulator, continue to stimulate mechanisms and develop trends in sustainable financing. Thus, the National Bank presented the Policy on the development of sustainable financing for the period until 2025. The development of the policy was carried out in the framework of cooperation with the International Finance Corporation, whose experts emphasized the need to develop a roadmap for sustainable financing, which will allow combining the capabilities of the private and public sectors in order to strengthen the practices of sustainable financing with the support of the state. Accordingly, the implementation of sustainable development initiatives in the financial sphere requires state support, and also involves the application of the experience of international organizations and the study of successful international practices of sustainable financing. Problem Statement. Assessment of the role of international organizations in the development of tools for sustainable financing at the level of national economies. The purpose is to substantiate the essential characteristics of sustainable financing tools, evaluate successful practices of strengthening sustainable financing within the framework of initiatives of international and European organizations with the aim of applying them in the process of building a domestic sustainable financing policy and strategy, forming and applying roadmaps for financing sustainable development priorities based on innovative tools. Methods. General scientific and special methods were used, in particular: scientific abstraction and epistemological (content) analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction, analogies and systematization, system-structural analysis, expert evaluation method, index method and grouping method. Results. The article examines the modern characteristics of sustainable financing and its evolution, the typology of sustainable financing. The basics of the spread of sustainable financing practices in Europe, as well as the essential characteristics of sustainable financing instruments (social and green bonds, social and green loans, sustainable development bonds and loans) are considered. An assessment of the volume and distribution of sustainable development financing instruments at the international level was made. At the international level, in connection with the diversification of the priority areas of attracting financial resources by the World Bank Group, there was a need to create separate organizations aimed at financing the priorities of sustainable development. In particular, one of such separate institutions is the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Accordingly, the article emphasizes the inclusive business model of IFC. In turn, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was created based on the combined efforts of a number of countries around the world, the European Union (EU) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The article focuses on the strategic areas of activity and products of the EBRD. A guide to the application of international experience of sustainable financing in Ukraine was considered. Conclusions. Thus, the study of the initiatives of international organizations in the development of sustainable financing tools makes it possible to draw a conclusion about the role of the interaction of the state, business and international organizations in order to accumulate efforts to strengthen sustainable financing through the use of innovative tools, the creation of appropriate policies and the development of sustainable development roadmaps. In Ukraine, the policy of sustainable financing is based on the cooperation of the NBU and the IFC and is implemented through a road map, which is of an applied nature and is intended to monitor the business activity of the NBU in terms of the formation of predictable and stable regulatory foundations with the aim of spreading sustainable financing in the country with specific time norms and taking into account the need to ensure the consistency and adaptability of the banking system and non-bank financial institutions to changes.