13.02.2025
Complementing its strategy 2024-2028, OeEB has now published four policy papers to detail and operationalise its strategy in the areas of additionality, technical assistance, Paris Alignment and human rights.
- Additionality: The concept of additionality is of central importance to OeEB as a development bank in order to differentiate itself from commercial banks. Additionality refers to the financing of projects in regions, sectors and segments that the private financial sector or capital market cannot adequately provide or that create development impacts which otherwise would not have occured. In its policy paper, OeEB describes its understanding of additionality, which is based on the definitions of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and explains how additionality is integrated into the bank's investment processes.
- Technical assistance: In developing and emerging countries, private companies and financial intermediaries not only need access to tailor-made financing such as loans and equity investments, but also access to technical assistance (TA) funds. The policy paper describes how OeEB intends to use its TA offering to strengthen the development impact of its projects, deepen the additionality of its financing and support the transformation path of its partners.
- Paris Alignment: As a green development bank, OeEB is committed to playing a pioneering role in mitigating climate change and adapting to its unavoidable effects. In its policy paper, OeEB defines how it intends to (i) review all new activities for their compatibility with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, (ii) achieve a climate-neutral portfolio by 2040, (iii) continue to make an ambitious contribution to international climate finance, (iv) drive climate ambitions within the network of European Development Banks (EDFI) as well as OeEB’s clients and (v) align internal processes in a climate-friendly manner.
- Human rights: The realization of human rights, as set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, is fundamental to tackling global social and environmental challenges and achieving positive development effects. In its policy paper, OeEB clarifies its position and explains how it incorporates human rights into its environmental and social management, which standards are applied and what expectations it has of its portfolio companies. As part of the human rights policy, OeEB has also revised its grievance mechanism which aims to process complaints about environmental, social and human rights violations caused by OeEB or its portfolio companies.