Itaú Unibanco S A : IFC and Itau BBA partner to accelerate the green construction market in Brazil

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is supporting Itau BBA to stimulate and develop green construction opportunities in the Sao Paulo City Metropolitan area.

Investments in green buildings play a pivotal role in spurring low-carbon economic growth and securing a transition to clean energy.

The initiative involves technical training for the bank's property developer clients and advisory services to identify opportunities in the green building market. The project also involves training and guidance for the EDGE certification, an IFC innovation that is based on a software that provides technical solutions to adapt the enterprise's project to a green building, with environmental and financial results. To qualify for EDGE certification, companies must utilize the EDGE software to prove that the design of their project will reduce energy, water, and embodied energy in building materials by at least 20 percent compared to a conventional building.

For this project, Itau BBA developed and launched a new product, Plano Empresario Verde, with different financing conditions. The property developer client, when adhering to and achieving the goals of the Plano Empresario Verde and having achieved the Preliminary EDGE Certification, will have a reduction in the interest fee originally contracted by the bank. The client whose project has been preliminarily certified by EDGE may use a differentiated construction plaque, indicating that it is a green building project.

'Market awareness provides Itau BBA with the possibility of creating a roadmap of opportunities for investments in green buildings and helping to transform the economy, society and the environment in Brazil,' says Miltom d'Avila, superintendent of the Real Estate segment at Itau BBA.

'Encouraging green building projects in the construction sector is key to lay the foundation for a green economic recovery. In Brazil, the speed of urbanization has one of the fastest rates in the world, second only to China and India, and the incorporation of this new design will bring immediate effects to society,' says Carlos Leiria Pinto, IFC's Country Manager in Brazil. 'This partnership with Itau BBA will help mitigate the climatic pressure of urbanization while opening up new green economic opportunities,' he adds.

While Brazil is South America's largest green-certified building market with over 1,400 green buildings and projects, IFC projects a US$40 billion investment opportunity in green construction through 2025, with a potential for 450,000 green residential units (dependent upon changing economic conditions).

The partnership between Itau and IFC started in 2013, when IFC provided technical and financial assistance to support Itau to develop Itau Mulher Empreendedora (Itau Women Entrepreneurs Program), designed to Inspire, Connect and Enable women entrepreneurs. IFC's support to Itau is part of the World Bank Group's Climate Strategy, which was developed in consultation with stakeholders from governments, civil society organizations, and the private sector in over 22 countries.

About Itau Unibanco

Itau Unibanco's purpose is to promote people's power of transformation and we do it through a strategic agenda focused on client centricity and digital transformation, based also on the diversity of our people. The largest bank in Latin America, Itau Unibanco is present in 18 countries and has more than 56 million customers, among individuals and companies in all segments, to whom we offer the best experiences in financial products and services. Itau Unibanco has been selected for the 21st consecutive time to be part of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), being the only Latin American financial institution to be part of the index since its creation in 1999. www.itau.com.br

About EDGE

An innovation of IFC, EDGE helps property developers to build and brand green in a fast, easy and affordable way. EDGE is supported by free software that encourages solutions to reduce energy, water and the energy used to make building materials by at least 20 percent, which is the standard for EDGE certification. The program has been generously supported by the following donors: Austria, Canada, Denmark, ESMAP, EU, Finland, GEF, Hungary, Japan and Switzerland. For more information, visit www.edgebuildings.com.

About IFC

IFC-a member of the World Bank Group-is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2020, we invested $22 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

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Contacts

?Sao Paulo:

Shirley Emerick, IFC

Phone: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

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