LONDON: The Financial Times and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today announced the winners of the 2012 FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards, with Bridges Ventures of the UK winning the Award for Excellence in Sustainable Finance, Standard Chartered named as Global Sustainable Bank of the Year, and Kilimo Salama of Kenya taking the prize for Technology in Sustainable Finance.

Now in their seventh year, The FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards are the major global awards for environmentally and socially responsible banking and investment. The 2012 Awards attracted 161 entries from 145 financial institutions and 36 non-financial groups in 67 countries.

The awards were presented at a gala dinner in London attended by around 200 senior decision-makers in finance and sustainability. Baroness Susan Greenfield, Scientist, Writer and Broadcaster, was keynote speaker at the dinner. The event followed a one-day Sustainable Finance Conference organised by the Financial Times and IFC.

The 2012 winners and special commendations in each category are:

“The winners of this year’s awards should be congratulated as they stand out from a very strong group of financial institutions that are leading the way on making environmental and social considerations a major part of their business. We were particularly impressed with the range of projects short-listed, notably the rapid development of mobile phone applications that are changing the lives of billions in the poorest parts of the world,” said Martin Dickson, Deputy Editor of the Financial Times and co-chair of the awards judging panel.

“The winners of the FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards demonstrate that environmental, social and governance standards are good business and good for the bottom line,” Nena Stoiljkovic, IFC Vice President, Business Advisory Services, said. “The expansion of categories helped us attract an even more diverse pool of candidates in 2012. More companies, as well as financial institutions, are adopting sustainable standards, and this year’s applicants are a sample of a growing trend that deserves recognition.”

The judging panel consisted of:

PwC was technical advisor for the programme.

For more details on the FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Conference and Awards, please visit www.ftconferences.com/sustainablefinance

Pictures of both events will be available from 0900 hours (GMT) the following day at: www.ftconferences.com/sustainablefinance/Page/Photographs/

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Kristina Eriksson, Financial Times
London
T: +44 (0) 20 7873 4961
E: kristina.eriksson@ft.com

Ryann Gastwirth, Financial Times
New York
T: + 1 212 641 6360
E: ryann.gastwirth@ft.com

Azmar Sukandar
Hong Kong
T: +852 2905 5519
E: azmar.sukandar@ft.com

Julie Ziegler, IFC
Washington DC
T: +1 (202) 473 0128
E: JZiegler1@ifc.org

The Financial Times, one of the world’s leading business news organisations, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing essential news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community, the FT has a combined paid print and digital circulation of 600,000  (Deloitte assured, 2 January 2012 – 1 April 2012) and a combined print and online average daily readership of 2.2 million people worldwide (PwC assured, November 2011). FT.com has more than 4.5 million registered users and 285,475 paying digital subscribers. The newspaper, printed at 21 print sites across the globe, has a global print circulation of 305,685 (ABC, April 2012).

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. We create opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We do so by providing financing to help businesses employ more people and supply essential services, by mobilizing capital from others, and by delivering advisory services to ensure sustainable development. In a time of global economic uncertainty, our new investments climbed to a record $18 billion in fiscal 2010. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.