Take a look at our eligibility and selection criteria.
Target areas
CLIMATE MITIGATION FINANCE
Projects to reduce, limit or sequestrate GHG emissions.
CLIMATE ADAPTATION FINANCE
Projects to adapt to current and expected effects of Climate Change.
Eligibility criteria
The ICFA is a multi-year acceleration program for first/second-time fund managers focused on climate finance.
Are you an emerging fund manager?
- The applicant is a first- or second-time fund management or fund advisory company (the “Applicant”) and intends to set up a climate investment fund (the “Fund Project”). 1
- The Applicant will uphold best market practices. 2
- The Applicant will or intends to be duly authorized or supervised by a competent supervisory authority of an EU Member State; or subject to a regulatory and/or supervisory regime that is equivalent to that of EU Member States. 3
Planning to set up an Impact Fund
- The Fund Project will have an integrated due diligence process in place to identify, manage, monitor, and measure the environmental and social impacts, risks, and opportunities of investments.
- The Fund Project will report on expected and realized results through pre-defined indicators on an annual basis. 4
- ICFA’s exclusion policy applicable to 100% of the investment portfolio. 5
With Climate Finance as its Primary Focus
- The Fund Project will have climate change mitigation and/or adaptation as its sustainable investment objectives. 6
- The Fund Project has a target portfolio corresponding to 75% of total assets in investments related, with a clear and direct link, to mitigation and/or adaptation of climate change or cross-cutting activities. 7
And ready to be accelerated?
- The Fund Project has a viable climate finance investment strategy, backed up by a market feasibility study and a well-developed pipeline.
- The Fund Project has a plausible impact strategy, supported by best-practice impact measurement and management methodologies.
- The Applicant has strong commitment to creating positive impact and the team members have proven track records in developing and managing climate finance investments.
- The Applicant has realistic fundraising strategy and capacity to launch the Fund Project, which is attractive in terms of financial and non-financial returns.
1 Eligible Applicants are unlisted small companies up to five years following their registration and/or the start of their economic activity, which have not yet distributed profits and have not been formed through a merger. If the Applicant is part of a group of companies, i.e., an economic entity formed of multiple companies which are directly or indirectly controlled by a controlling company, eligibility will consider on a group basis.
2Alongside the adoption of CSR / sustainability policies, best market practices refer to the implementation of robust due diligence processes in relation to sustainability and impact assessment premised on widely recognized integration standards.
3The equivalence of regulatory and/or supervisory frameworks of non-EU countries with the EU framework will be assessed premised on the equivalence decisions of the European Commission and the Luxembourg national supervisory authority.
4The Fund Project may rely on international standards for sustainability and impact reporting in their impact disclosures. In case of intermediated finance, the standards and underlying risk management systems shall also be applicable at an intermediary level.
5The Fund Project’s exclusion policy must be in accordance with the ICFA Exclusion Policy. In case of intermediated finance, the Fund Project must also comply with the ICFA Exclusion Policy at an intermediary level.
6For Fund Projects to be subject to the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”), this requirement will be assessed on the basis of the (intended) product classification as an Article 9 product within the meaning of the SFDR. For Fund Projects that are not subject to the SFDR, this requirement will be assessed based on their investment objectives as per their (intended) legal and reporting documentation.
7The link to climate-related activities shall be determined based on internationally and/or regionally agreed classification systems and taxonomies, such as the MDBs’ Common Principles for Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Finance Tracking. Regardless of the classification system applied, the Fund Project should demonstrate alignment with the universally aligned with the Paris Agreement activity classification.
Selection criteria
Eligible applicants will have the opportunity to enter the selection process.
During the selection process, your proposal and your team will be assessed on various features, including the following, as well as your readiness to be accelerated.
Investment Strategy
- Innovative thematic investment strategy
- Potential to be replicated and scaled
- Identified credible deal flow channels and secured strong pipeline of investment opportunities
Impact Strategy
- Triple bottom-line investment strategy with integrated best-practice impact framework
- Balanced inclusion of ESG criteria in the investment process, including cross-cutting topics
- Credible climate impact measurement, targeting social and/or environment objectives and management methodology over the fund life
- Innovative fund concept combining public/private sources of capital
- Focus on challenging geographies and/or developing countries
- Non-financial support provided to investees
Team Track Record
- First- or second-time fund managers or fund advisors raising a climate finance fund
- Skills and experience in fund management
- Focus on innovation, a vision for growth, and the drive to scale their business
- Strong commitment to create positive impact in the targeted geographies and sectors
- Track record and investment experience in climate finance by team and individual members
- Alignment as a team with a credible plan to commit full-time toward launching the fund
- Capacity to perform ESG due diligence and address ESG issues
- Adequate financial commitment by the team and individual team members, and adequate means to endure delays to the fund launch
- Local on-the-ground presence and/or local support to investees
Fundraising Capacity
- Fund concept supported by an advanced financial model with attractive financial and non-financial returns
- Credible fundraising strategy and access to target investors with global and domestic networking channels and capabilities
- Ability to communicate and convince investors
- Traction with fund investors
- Commitment, persistence and resources to complete the fundraising process
Selection Committee
The ICFA has appointed an independent Selection Committee, which uses its in-depth expertise in environmental, climate change and impact finance in order to propose a balanced selection of innovative and promising fund managers.
Barbara is a seasoned investment practitioner in the climate and infrastructure space. Prior to becoming an independent advisor, she held various positions at the EIB Group for more than 20 years and was heading the Climate and Infrastructure Fund investment activities from 2018 to 2023. Barbara has extensive experience of renewable energy, energy efficiency, environment and resources, sustainable transport, digital and social infrastructure fund investments and a solid ESG and risk background. During her career, Barbara held various executive and non-executive board positions. Barbara is a member of the UNPRI Infrastructure Advisory Committee.
Femke Bos is the Director Business Development, Strategy & IESG of Invest International. Invest International is set up in July 2021 by the Dutch Government and FMO, the Dutch Development Bank, to foster innovative solutions with the for global, SDG related, challenges in Emerging Markets and to make the necessary investments feasible.
She brings a wealth of experience in impact investing, project development and fund management in Emerging Markets covering themes as financial inclusion, energy and climate, water, agri-food, health and sustainable infrastructure. Prior to joining Invest International, she worked at Triodos Investment Management and FMO, where she held several (fund) management positions and set up the Triodos Microfinance Fund. During her career she also served as a Non- Executive Director on the boards of a number of Microfinance and SME banks in South East Asia.
Baas is an expert in environment and climate change working for Lux-Development, the development cooperation agency of the Luxembourg government. He advises on environment and climate related matters and provides guidance and technical support to LuxDev’s various projects and programmes around the world. Currently a key objective is to integrate climate change action (adaptation and mitigation) as a cross-cutting priority into overall development work. In his current function he acts as focal point for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and he coordinates the agency's climate portfolio development. Further he advises on the LuxDev’s efforts to deliver on Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility. In partner countries Baas supports the strengthening of capacities, documents best practices, and fosters partnerships and collaboration.
Before joining LuxDev, he worked for PwC, EY, the Delegation of the European Union to Lao PDR, and the UN World Food Programme in the Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction unit. He is an alumnus of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg and holds a MSc in earth system science and multilingual in English, French, German, and Luxembourgish.
Dr. Angela Falconer is an independent climate finance consultant focussed on agriculture and forest finance. She is the former UK/EU Director of Climate Policy Initiative where she worked for 11 years. Her role included advising the Governments of Indonesia, Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire on climate finance issues including design of climate finance mechanisms, fiscal policy and monitoring of climate-aligned expenditures. Angela worked for several years on CPI’s Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, establishing a Sustainable Agriculture for Smallholders focus within the Lab through a partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development and led CPI’s support to develop the Climate Smart Lending Platform and the Cloud Forest Blue Energy Mechanism Lab instruments. More recently she oversaw the evolution of CPI’s climate finance tracking work towards assessing Paris Alignment of financial actors and tracking of financial actor climate commitments ahead of COP26.
Angela holds a PhD in the Science and Management of Climate Change from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, where her thesis focused on REDD+ finance, an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford, and an MA in Geography from the University of Glasgow.
Angela holds a PhD in the Science and Management of Climate Change from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, where her thesis focused on REDD+ finance, an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford, and an MA in Geography from the University of Glasgow.
Gregory Fayolle is the founder (2008) and Managing Director of ORAXYS, a leading Luxembourg-based ESG Growth Capital and LBO firm specialized in European SMEs with environment-friendly products and services.
Prior to become an entrepreneur in the finance industry, Gregory was working in Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions, respectively at Societe Generale Asset Management and Andersen Corporate Finance. Gregory has a 20-year background of Private Equity deals in Europe and in the USA.
Gregory is a Selection Committee member of the International Climate Finance Accelerator in Luxembourg since inception. Gregory has also been for 2 years a Sector Leader for the Environment at the French Embassy in Thailand.
Christopher is an independent advisor on climate and environmental finance. Until 2018 he was a long term staff member of EIB with a background covering development economics and finance, project finance, PPPs as well as conventional credits to corporate and banking customers. He started to develop serious concerns about climate and environmental degradation in the 1980s, in part having seen the environmental damage wrought by uncontrolled heavy industry in the CEE region and also being exposed to environmental and demographic stress in many developing countries. In his final role at EIB – leading a team focused on climate and environmental finance and junior risk products – he sought to ensure that EIB, the free world’s largest publicly owned bank, contributed appropriately to the climate change agenda, through scale (€20bn annually) and innnovation.
He is a member of the advisory councils for the OECD Centre for Green Finance and Investment and also the Climate Bond Initiative. He has served on the Supervisory Boards and Advisory Committees of numerous clean energy, environmental, infrastructure and carbon funds, and continues in this capacity as an Independent Director of fund vehicles.
He is in charge of sustainable finance issues in the field of climate action, international climate finance and sustainable development. Furthermore, he takes part in negotiations on the EU’s Sustainable Finance Strategy, COP, EU and UN sustainable development policies and other climate and macroeconomic policies. He is a member of several expert and working groups in fields of climate finance, sustainable development, environment and sustainable tax policies at the EU Council, European Commission and OECD including the UN Green Climate Fund.
Prior to joining Luxembourg’s Environment Ministry in 2014, Jimmy was involved in financial services in the tax department of KPMG Luxembourg. He holds MSc in economics and finance.
Stephan is the CEO of the International Climate Finance Accelerator Luxembourg (ICFA) where he leverages his extensive track record to assist aspiring climate-focused fund managers in structuring their vehicles, formulating investment strategies, guiding operational implementation, securing financing, and building high-performance teams.
Previously, Stephan ran his own sustainable advisory and investment boutique SANZARU, while also part of the TIIME.org team, advocating and educating decision makers to boost awareness of impact investing, sustainability and diversity. Prior, Stephan accumulated experience in private equity, corporate finance and strategy consulting across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia with blue-chip names like Oliver Wyman, Credit Suisse, and Delta Partners.
Stephan earned an MBA at the prestigious business school INSEAD with locations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. He earned and a MSc in Aerospace Engineering (cum laude) from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Stephan is also a CFA Charterholder from the CFA Institute.