Impact of our investments
Our actions and our impact are the result of a management process based on continuous improvement and aspiring to reach the highest levels of responsibility and alignment with international best practices.
COFIDES promotes the establishment of partnerships with the private sector to finance projects that help generate positive and lasting effects in the countries where the investment is made and has a long track record of measuring impact. With our long history of measuring the impact of funded projects, COFIDES has developed internal policies and actions, has participated in international initiatives, and has joined other world players in order to advance in terms of our contribution to global development goals.
Since the year 2022, our entity has implemented the COFIDES Impact Programme, which receives funding from the Next Generation EU mechanism (part of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan) and which aims to support private investment projects that bring about a positive impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
COFIDES has recently issued its third public statement related to investments and processes aligned with the Operating Principles for Impact Management.
Proactivity in the creation of climate projects
The new COFIDES 2022-2024 Strategic Plan includes the aim of reaching a 30% volume of operations in climate action and environmental sustainability projects.
This climate financing challenge represents part of COFIDES's annual sustainability targets, related with the concepts of support for employment, responsible industry, social infrastructure, and climate change mitigation, as well as with the flow of capital to emerging and developing countries. These goals have been included for the fourth consecutive year amongst our corporate aims, which are generally linked to the variable remuneration of employees.
Measuring the carbon footprint of our portfolio
In order to strengthen the resilience of our portfolio and continue advancing in terms of risk management and opportunity identification, COFIDES has carried out for the first time the measurement and calculation of the carbon footprint of our internationalisation portfolio for the year 2021. To undertake this initiative, the PCAF and GHG Protocol methodologies were used. The result is a powerful inventory that gives us a better picture of the impact our investments have on climate change, monitoring both the emissions attributed thereto and the effectiveness of future decarbonisation measures while starting to involve our clients in reducing their emissions.
Impact on gender equality in investments
COFIDES considers it essential to include the gender dimension when analysing projects. Private-sector investments can help advance equality and create inclusive markets while improving business performance.
Use of the “2X Challenge” initiative's criteria can be highlighted to collect information on gender equality and women's empowerment in projects. The principles to decide whether a project is 2X or not are related to the presence of women as founders, owners, members of the Board of Directors, executives, and/or employees, as well as to the existence of initiatives to support female workers and products or services that favour women.
Some data on the aggregate impact of investments
Projects in the portfolio in 2022 financed by COFIDES, FIEX and FONPYME were associated:
Euros 432.89 million tax revenue
Euros 2,133.43 million increase in national income
Contribution to the creation and maintenance of:
20,895 direct jobs
Euros 770.38 million combined wages and salaries
3,743 female-held jobs
28 projects with a positive contribution to gender equality
Besides, the FONREC Fund has proved to be an effective tool for job preservation; it is estimated that, in its absence, 36,942 jobs would have been destroyed, 39% of which would have been female-held jobs.
