Standard Chartered Launches Climate Adaptation Finance
Standard Chartered has achieved a significant milestone by completing its first adaptation finance transaction for a corporate client, marking a crucial step in its global climate resilience efforts.
The landmark deal, arranged for JinkoSolar, will facilitate the trade of advanced solar modules across the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. These specialised modules are engineered to withstand extreme weather conditions, ensuring consistent energy production even in challenging environments.
Rising Importance of Adaptation Finance
As climate-related disasters grow in both frequency and severity, adaptation finance is emerging as an increasingly vital sector of banking.
It provides essential tools for mitigating economic losses caused by unpredictable weather eventsāa growing concern in our changing climate.
According to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), climate-related extreme weather events have resulted in cumulative losses of approximately US$2 trillion over the past decade.
The economic damages reached US$451 billion in 2024 alone.
Recent catastrophic weather eventsāincluding Hurricane Milton, floods across southeast Spain, and devastating wildfires throughout West Africaāhave underscored the urgent need for more resilient infrastructure and the investments required to develop it.
Setting New Standards
This transaction follows Standard Chartered's launch of the Guide for Adaptation and Resilience Finance, developed in collaboration with KPMG and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The guide provides a framework for defining and financing adaptation projects, outlining over 100 investable activities aimed at enhancing climate resilience.
For the JinkoSolar deal, Standard Chartered provided Bank Guarantees to facilitate the delivery of Tiger Neo N-type solar modules, which are specifically designed to withstand severe environmental conditions.
These modules will be deployed at solar farms in regions vulnerable to extreme weather, including Florida, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Ben Hung, President, International at Standard Chartered, emphasises the significance of the transaction: "As a bank that sits at the centre of trade flows, and helps to facilitate them, we're delighted to support JinkoSolar on this transaction.
"This deal demonstrates Standard Chartered's ability to leverage the full breadth of our cross-border capabilities alongside our unique adaptation finance expertise, to connect demand for advanced solar technology with supply, building long-term resilience into critical energy infrastructure across our markets."
Investing in Climate Resilience
Adaptation finance is becoming a critical asset class that addresses the urgent need to build resilience against climate-related disruptions.
Haiyun Cao, JinkoSolar's Chief Financial Officer, states: "Adaptation and resilience financing are crucial in the journey to address climate change and as a leading enterprise in the photovoltaic industry, JinkoSolar feels a great sense of responsibility to support this.
"We are committed to promoting the development of clean energy and improving the efficiency and adaptability of photovoltaic products through technological innovation.
"This not only contributes to our own sustainable development, but also provides stable clean energy supply for societies and enhances our ability to cope with climate challenges."
The deal also represents Standard Chartered's first labelled adaptation finance transaction in China, reflecting the bank's global approach to sustainability and resilience.
Scaling Adaptation Finance
The growing financial impact of extreme weather necessitates broader engagement in adaptation finance.
This transaction with JinkoSolar builds upon Standard Chartered's previous adaptation finance deal with an insurance client in 2023, which focused on financial protection against extreme weather-related changes in river and wind levels for renewable energy businesses.
Tracy Wong Harris, Head of Sustainable Finance GCNA at Standard Chartered, explains: "Standard Chartered offers practical solutions to mitigate the worst impacts of extreme weather, helping our clients build resilience against the major productivity losses being felt here and now in the real economy as a result of increasingly frequent weather-related events."
As climate risks continue to escalate, the financial sector's role in supporting adaptation and resilience will be increasingly vital.
Marisa Drew, Standard Chartered's CSO, also sees this as a commercial opportunity: "When we launched the Guide for Adaptation and Resilience Finance, we set out to provide the clarity needed across the market to accelerate investment into adaptation and resilience.
"Today, we're putting the guide into action ourselves through our first labelled deal with a corporate client, demonstrating the commercial opportunity alongside the economic benefits of financing resilient infrastructure in markets that are acutely vulnerable to the negative effects of extreme weather."
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