In recent years, NRDC has been working with commercial banks and FinTech companies to mobilize more financial capital to support climate mitigation and sustainable development in China. This cooperation includes policy advocacy, financial products development, and capacity building for local banks, including the Eco-industrial park loan project in Huzhou and Bamboo Carbon Sink Loan in Hangzhou. 

From August 26 to 28, NRDC and the Postal Savings Banks of China (PSBC) jointly conducted field visits to Huzhou and Hangzhou in Zhejiang. Huzhou is a national-level green finance pilot city and has been a pioneer in promoting green finance and sustainable development in China. We had meetings with Huzhou Finance Office, which oversees the city’s green finance pilots, PSBC’s Huzhou branch, and visited several projects supported by green finance, including industrial parks and eco-agricultural farms. Through this visit, we gained a better understanding of the role of green finance in promoting post-COVID recovery and sustainable development in practice. We also identified the key challenges facing pilot projects and the opportunities that NRDC’s green finance interventions can help. 

In the Yuhang district of Hangzhou, NRDC and the Yuhang Forestry Bureau co-organized a multi-stakeholder roundtable on their sustainable forestry program. At the meeting, forestry experts, government officials, bank managers, and community representatives discussed applying PSBC’s newly launched Carbon Sink Loan (CSL) to the ongoing UN Forestry Initiative (UNFI) pilot at Yuhang. We also visited PSBC’s local office, which implements the CSL in the community. NRDC has worked with the PSBC to introduce CSL as part of the Yuhang pilot. This loan is designed to encourage carbon-friendly sustainable bamboo management within the local community to protect the endemic bamboo species and to support the local livelihood.