Standpoints of our experts

Worldwide, there are efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through emission-free transport systems and by shifting transport to rail. For railway companies, investing in climate protection not only makes environmental sense, but also opens up new financing opportunities.

In an interview with IRJ Editor-in-Chief Kevin Smith, Sebastian Blum, Global Head of Mobility, looks at the manifold opportunities and challenges of sustainable financing in rail transport and the role of KfW IPEX Bank in this area.

The International Maritime Organization envisages to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping to zero by 2050. Retrofitting measures on existing vessels are a good option to achieve this objective, although they are associated with high investment costs.

Tanja Georg, Team Head Origination & Structuring, Maritime Industries, and Stephan Vetter, Vice President Debt Origination & Structuring APAC, Maritime Industries share their expertise and experience in retrofit financing in a podcast of Capital Link and explain how KfW IPEX-Bank helps companies to make their ships more environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

The EU taxonomy aims to channel financial flows into sustainable economic activities. However, direct application to the loan business is not readily possible.

Luis-Miguel Gutiérrez Demmel, Senior Advisor Corporate Strategy & Sustainability at KfW IPEX-Bank, explains key aspects of operationalising the EU taxonomy for the loan business in a guest article in the banking industry magazine “Zeitschrift für das gesamte Kreditwesen” (journal for the entire credit industry).

Among public transport companies, there is a trend emerging towards leasing as a means of replacing old vehicles with new ones. As an expert in financing mobility and transport, KfW IPEX-Bank believes that separating the operation and ownership of modes of transport offers decisive advantages for municipalities.

Dr Carsten Wiebers, Head of Aviation, Mobility & Transport, in a guest article published in Railway-News Magazine.

KfW IPEX-Bank is expanding its commitment for a variety of reasons. First and foremost is its resolve to contribute to the transport transition and climate change mitigation by shifting transport of passengers and goods to the railways. Dr Carsten Wiebers sees a trend towards leasing models due to high efficiency gains. KfW IPEX-Bank has developed its own model for this purpose.

Dr Carsten Wiebers, Global Head of Aviation, Mobility & Transport, in an interview with “Rail Business” magazine.

Climate action has become a permanent fixture in public debate. A change in thinking has also been long underway in the shipping industry. Sustainable drive systems for ships are becoming increasingly important. However, they need financing from somewhere. What role is Germany’s leading bank for ship financing playing in all of this?

Sebastian Blum and Sebastian Fenk, both Team Heads from the Maritime Industries Department at KfW IPEX-Bank, speak to Lesley Bankes-Hughes from ship.energy and bunkerspot about financing the decarbonisation of shipping.

Municipalities face financial issues when planning regional mobility and bringing about the associated transport transition. Separating ownership from operation of modes of transport from an organisational point of view is one promising model.

In a guest article in "Der Neue Kämmerer" magazine for financial decision-makers, Dr Carsten Wiebers, Global Head of Aviation, Mobility & Transport, and Jerina Mariathasan, Mobility & Transport Associate, explain the benefits of this model and how the functional separation can help when financing new technologies.

As a global framework that applies to all industry sectors, the Equator Principles combine key factors of sustainable financing. The revised Equator Principles IV came into effect on 1 October 2020. Human rights and climate protection have now been added as obligatory assessment areas for all financing projects.

In a guest commentary for Börsen-Zeitung newspaper, Sabine Lehmann, Sustainability Officer at KfW IPEX-Bank, explains the importance of the framework for financial institutions.

Companies need liquidity like people need air to breathe - and in order to delay liquidity outflows, more and more companies are beginning to rely on reverse factoring. Practice shows, however, that the use of this instrument can also have a critical effect on success.

In a guest commentary for the German daily Börsen-Zeitung Ursula Friedman, Director of Credit Risk Management, and Georg Gliem, analyst in Credit Risk Management, explain what reverse factoring is and why it can accelerate a crisis, especially in a financial bottleneck.

Projects aimed at securing raw materials are part of the DNA of KfW IPEX-Bank - from promoting copper mines in Chile in the 1960s to current challenges facing European companies related to the sheer availability of raw materials.

In two interviews Stefan Eitel, Head of the Metals & Mining team at KfW IPEX-Bank explains criteria for financing projects and current challenges for the industry in Germany and Europe.