What can be confirmed about the original webinar?
The historical MSFI invitation identifies a collaboration between the Malaysian Sustainable Finance Initiative and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for a blue-finance webinar. Its announced topics included the concept, IFC experience in the Philippines and Thailand, and challenges and financing opportunities for Malaysian financial institutions.
A participant's training record in Evergreen Max Cash Capital Berhad's Annual Report 2024, printed page 53 records attendance at Blue Finance: Unlocking New Opportunities in Sustainable Financing on 23 September 2024.
The original presentations and a complete recording have not been recovered for this explainer. The invitation establishes the intended topics; it does not establish which transactions speakers actually covered or their results. This independently operated website was not the organiser and does not claim the historical initiative's IFC partnership. The old registration invitation should be read as an archive record.
Use the right definition for your project
IFC's Guidelines for Blue Finance, Version 2.0, dated September 2025, cover freshwater as well as marine activity. They connect eligibility to a substantial contribution to water or ocean sustainability, measurable outcomes and environmental and social safeguards. The contribution should go beyond compliance with applicable law.
The indicative areas include:
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| Activity area | What to investigate in your proposal |
|---|---|
| Water and wastewater management | The specific improvement, receiving water body and method for measuring performance. |
| Coastal, marine or watershed habitat restoration | The affected habitat, starting condition, restoration plan and monitoring responsibility. |
| Fisheries and aquaculture | The resource-management approach and impacts on ecosystems and communities. |
| Transport and shipping | The defined pollution or other environmental improvement; a maritime business label alone is insufficient. |
These are screening questions, not automatic eligibility decisions. Check the activity-specific conditions with the financier.
The September 2023 Bonds to Finance the Sustainable Blue Economy: A Practitioner's Guide, published by ADB and IFC with contributions from ICMA, UNEP FI and the UN Global Compact, focuses on ocean-related projects. Its scope is therefore different from IFC's broader freshwater guidance. Ask which document and version a proposed financing will use.
Safeguards are part of the proposal
A project should explain both the benefit it intends to deliver and the risks it needs to manage. For example, a hypothetical wastewater upgrade would need evidence about treatment performance as well as the handling of sludge and effects on downstream users.
UNEP FI's June 2021 Recommended Exclusions for Financing a Sustainable Blue Economy explains why some ocean-related activities should be excluded because of damaging impacts and high risk. Use the financier's applicable exclusion and safeguard requirements alongside the positive project case.
For your team, that means documenting affected habitats and people, potential harm, mitigation responsibilities and the records used to assess progress. A sustainability label does not replace permits or project due diligence.
Choose a structure that fits the evidence
The 2023 practitioner's guide places blue bonds within established sustainable-finance principles and also discusses performance-linked structures. Two routes ask different things of your business:
- Use-of-proceeds financing: money is assigned to eligible projects. The proposal needs a selection process, a way to track funds and allocation and impact reporting. A financing framework explains these arrangements; an external review can assess its alignment.
- Performance-linked financing: financing terms depend on defined sustainability measures and targets. A key performance indicator (KPI) is the measure; a sustainability performance target is the result to be reached by a stated date. The measurement method, reporting, verification and contractual consequence need to be clear.
IFC's 2025 guidance also addresses blue loans and performance-linked loans with a blue focus. An SME can discuss a loan route with its bank; it need not assume that issuing a blue bond is the appropriate starting point.
