Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS)

What Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS) does

Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS), also known as Beijing Institute of Green Finance and Sustainable Development (北京绿色金融与可持续发展研究院), is a private non-profit policy research think tank headquartered in Tongzhou, Beijing, founded circa 2019-2021 with approximately 27 employees. It conducts research and policy advisory on green finance, sustainable investment, climate finance, ESG investing, biodiversity finance, and carbon markets, producing methodologies such as the China-EU Common Ground Taxonomy (covering 61 economic activities across 6 sectors) and an EPS-based Green Finance Roadmap projecting 487 trillion RMB of cumulative green investment demand over a 30-year carbon neutrality horizon.

IFS functions as the secretariat for five major international platforms: the Belt and Road Green Investment Principles (GIP, signed by 40 institutions managing ~49 trillion USD AUM), the Coalition for Sustainable Investment Capacity Building (CASI), the China Climate Engagement Initiative (CCEI, supported by UN PRI), the Green Finance Platform (GFP) including a New Energy Storage Information Platform, and the China-Brazil Green Finance and Sustainable Agriculture Annual Dialogue. It also co-chairs bilateral mechanisms such as the China-UK Transition Finance Working Group launched in 2025. Director Ma Jun simultaneously serves as Co-chair of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group and Chair of the NGFS Research Working Group, anchoring IFS's role in shaping global green finance standards.

Its commercial activities are limited to a professional certification program (Green Finance Professional Certification/GFP exam 绿金考试) and published research reports distributed through its website and bimonthly newsletter. The organization is funded through a non-profit model (no publicly disclosed revenue, funding rounds, or financial statements) and reaches policymakers, financial institutions, and corporates through research publications, conferences, salon series, and international media engagement. Strategic content focuses on green credit/bonds, climate and environmental risk analysis, transition finance frameworks for hard-to-abate sectors (steel, cement, chemicals, aluminum, aviation, shipping, agriculture), and a recently introduced Look-back Transition Instrument (LTI) for SME financing.

Name

Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS)

Legal name

北京绿色金融与可持续发展研究院

Website

https://ifs.net.cn

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Beijing-based non-profit policy research institute (IFS) conducting green and sustainable finance research, developing taxonomies and climate risk methodologies, and serving as secretariat for major international platforms including the Belt and Road Green Investment Principles, CASI, and CCEI. It serves Chinese regulators, financial institutions, and corporates, with global reach across Belt and Road, ASEAN, Africa, and Brazil.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable Finance Policy Research

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541), Finance and Insurance (52)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAHAJAH

Sustainability, ESG & Climate Risk Advisory

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Consulting

SECONDARYFSAAALAK

ESG Reporting, Disclosure & Regulatory Compliance (SFDR, EU Taxonomy, TCFD/ISSB)

Financial & Insurance/Asset & Wealth Management/Asset Management — ESG/Sustainable & Impact Investing

SECONDARYBPADACAN

Technical Assistance, Policy Lending & Capacity Building Programs

Business & Public Services/International Organizations & Development/International Financial Institutions & Development Banks

SECONDARYEDABAJAO

Sustainability, ESG & Climate Finance Risk

Education/Corporate Training & Professional Development/Finance, Accounting & Risk Training

SECONDARYBPADACAH

Climate Finance Funds & Green Investment Facilities

Business & Public Services/International Organizations & Development/International Financial Institutions & Development Banks

Keywords

• Green finance research
• Sustainable finance policy
• Climate risk analysis
• ESG investing
• Carbon neutrality research

Headquarters

HQ city

Beijing

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

IFS is a non-profit policy research institute that conducts green and sustainable finance research, develops taxonomies and standards (including the China-EU Common Ground Taxonomy), operates international cooperation platforms (GIP, CCEI, CASI, GFP, China-Brazil Dialogue), publishes research reports and viewpoints, and delivers the Green Finance Professional (GFP) certification program for financial practitioners.

Product overview

Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS), also known as Beijing Institute of Green Finance and Sustainable Development, operates as a policy research and industry collaboration institute rather than a software product company. The organization offers a portfolio of programs including the Green Finance Professional Certification Exam (绿金考试) for talent development, multiple research and collaboration platforms (CCEI, GFP, GIP, CASI), published research reports on green finance and carbon neutrality topics, and expert viewpoints/analysis services. These offerings collectively support green finance research, capacity building, and international cooperation in sustainable finance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Green Finance Professional Certification Exam (绿金考试) A professional certification program for green finance practitioners, including exam curriculum, registration, recommended reading, and certificate verification, delivered to financial professionals and institutions in China.
• Belt and Road Green Investment Principles (GIP) An international platform promoting green investment principles along the Belt and Road initiative, with regional offices in ASEAN and Africa; IFS serves as the secretariat.
• China Climate Engagement Initiative (CCEI) A platform facilitating climate engagement by investors in China, supported by UN PRI, supporting collaborative climate action and sustainable development initiatives.
• Green Finance Platform (GFP) A financial support platform for green technology innovation, with a specialized New Energy Storage Information Platform tracking sector developments.
• Coalition for Sustainable Investment Capacity Building (CASI) An alliance for building sustainable investment capabilities across Belt and Road countries through training, research, and best practice sharing; over 30 Chinese and foreign institutions as founding members.
• China-Brazil Green Finance and Sustainable Agriculture Annual Dialogue Platform An annual dialogue platform for China-Brazil cooperation on green finance and sustainable agriculture; IFS organizes and hosts these exchanges.
• New Energy Storage Information Platform A specialized information platform tracking new energy storage technologies and sector developments under the Green Finance Platform (GFP).

Quantifiable outcome

• 487 trillion RMB cumulative green investment demand identified and quantified for China's 30-year carbon neutrality pathway
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and regional.

• 可持续投资能力建设联盟 (CASI) - Coalition for Sustainable Investment Capacity BuildingcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Launched at COP28 with IFS as the lead convener, co-founded with over 30 Chinese and international institutions. CASI was included in the 3rd Belt and Road Forum practical cooperation project list. It aims to build sustainable investment capacity across Belt and Road countries through training, research, and best practice sharing.
• "一带一路"绿色投资原则 (GIP) - Belt and Road Green Investment PrinciplescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIFS serves as the GIP Secretariat. GIP is a platform for green investment along the Belt and Road, signed by 40 global institutions managing approximately 49 trillion USD in assets. It has established regional offices in Africa and Southeast Asia.
• 中国气候联合参与平台 (CCEI) - China Climate Engagement InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlatform launched to facilitate climate engagement by investors. At COP28, UN PRI announced formal support for CCEI, committing to jointly promote CCEI platform development and work implementation.
• 金融支持绿色科技平台 (GFP) - Green Finance PlatformcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIFS-initiated platform supporting green technology innovation through financing. Includes a specialized New Energy Storage Information Platform (ess.ifs.net.cn) tracking sector developments.
• 中国-巴西绿色金融与可持续农业年度对话平台coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual dialogue platform between China and Brazil on green finance and sustainable agriculture cooperation, with the 6th annual dialogue held in Beijing in 2026. IFS organizes and hosts these exchanges.
• GIP ASEAN BranchregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerGIP ASEAN Branch launched in Jakarta, Indonesia in November 2023, jointly organized by IFS and Indonesia's CSIS (Centre for Strategic and International Studies), with support from GIP Steering Committee co-chairs and ASEAN Secretary General.
• 中英转型金融工作组 - China-UK Transition Finance Working GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThematic working group under the China-UK Green Finance bilateral cooperation mechanism, officially launched in 2025. Published 2025 annual progress report covering policy and market developments, bilateral exchange outcomes, research practice progress, and policy recommendations.
• 中欧可持续金融国际平台 (IPSF) - International Platform for Sustainable FinancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIPSF jointly initiated by China and EU economies, published the Common Ground Taxonomy Report at COP26. IFS and Green Finance Committee contributed to developing shared standards for cross-border sustainable finance, covering 61 economic activities in 6 sectors.
• 央行与监管机构绿色金融网络 (NGFS) - Network for Greening the Financial SystemcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNGFS established in December 2017 with People's Bank of China and 7 other central banks. IFS Director Ma Jun serves as Research Working Group Chair. NGFS has 89 member central banks and supervisors representing 75% of global GHG emissions. IFS contributed to environmental risk analysis reports and biodiversity research.
• G20可持续金融工作组 (SFWG) - G20 Sustainable Finance Working GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChina co-chairs the G20 SFWG. IFS Director Ma Jun served as co-chair of the G20 Green Finance Study Group (2017-2018) and currently co-chairs the renewed G20 SFWG. The group developed the G20 Sustainable Finance Roadmap.
• 保尔森基金会绿色金融中心 - Paulson Institute Green Finance CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-published the Fintech Report series on green finance (2020 and 2021 editions). Joint research on how fintech promotes green finance development in China through innovative case studies and policy recommendations.
• 联合国负责任投资原则组织 (UN PRI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAt COP28 in December 2023, UN PRI announced formal support for the China Climate Engagement Initiative (CCEI) platform, committing to jointly promote CCEI platform development and work implementation.
• 贸法大学 (University of International Business and Economics)regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerJointly published the green trade series research report on promoting green trade under the RCEP framework with Peking University.
• 北京大学 (Peking University)regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-published green trade series research report with University of International Business and Economics on promoting green trade advantages under the RCEP framework.
• 高瓴产业与创新研究院 (Hillhouse Capital)regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerJointly published the report 'Towards 2060 Carbon Neutrality: Opportunities and Challenges on the Decarbonization Path' with Hillhouse Capital's Industrial and Innovation Research Institute.
• Schroders (施罗德投资)regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerLed the publication of research report 'Opportunities and Barriers to Transition in Hard-to-Abate Sectors' covering steel, cement, chemicals, aluminum, aviation, shipping, and agriculture sectors.
• 伦敦证券交易所集团 (London Stock Exchange Group)regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerLed publication of report 'UK-China Collaboration on Transition Finance and the Green Economy' exploring cooperation foundations and future recommendations between China and UK in transition finance.
• 印尼战略与国际问题研究中心 (CSIS Indonesia)regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organized the Sustainable Finance Forum in Jakarta with CSIS Indonesia to launch the GIP ASEAN Branch, marking regional expansion of Belt and Road Green Investment Principles.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS): Network of 89 central banks and supervisors that IFS Director Ma Jun chairs the Research Working Group of. Included as a peer because IFS functions as a research-driven back-office to NGFS outputs on environmental risk analysis, scenarios, and biodiversity — a deeply interlinked ecosystem relationship rather than direct competition.
• International Platform for Sustainable Finance (IPSF): EU-China launched platform that produced the Common Ground Taxonomy in which IFS is a key contributor. Included as an ecosystem peer rather than a competitor — IFS operates as research and convening partner within IPSF's outputs on cross-border sustainable finance taxonomy.

Regional players

• Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI): US-based clean energy and climate finance research organization with growing China and Asia program. Comparable to IFS for its energy-transition policy research, financial institution advisory on clean energy investing, and emission-reduction modeling — partial functional overlap on climate finance and energy transition.
• Green Finance & Development Center, FISF Fudan University: Academic green finance research center in China producing policy research and training programs on green and sustainable finance. Comparable to IFS as a domestic Chinese peer in green finance research and capacity building, with similar academic-policy hybrid positioning.

Broad incumbents

• CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project): Global non-profit operating the world's largest environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, and investors. Comparable to IFS as a non-profit standard-setter and data platform for sustainable finance; broader in scale and scope, but functionally similar in producing taxonomies-adjacent disclosure frameworks that financial institutions and regulators adopt.
• International Finance Corporation (IFC): World Bank Group member focused on private-sector development in emerging markets with large sustainable finance advisory and standard-setting programs. Comparable to IFS because both operate at the intersection of finance, sustainability, and policy advisory — IFC's working group participation in China green finance is direct competitive/peer ecosystem overlap.
• World Resources Institute (WRI): Global environmental research non-profit producing work on climate, energy, finance, and sustainable development. Comparable to IFS as a research-and-policy think tank that bridges science, finance, and policy; broader in topic coverage but overlapping on sustainable finance, ESG, and corporate climate disclosure issues.

Direct peers

• Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI): London-based non-profit that develops green bond standards and taxonomies globally. Highly comparable to IFS because both are non-profit standard-setters in sustainable finance, produce certification schemes, and convene institutional investors and regulators around taxonomy alignment — direct functional parallel to IFS's GIP, GFP, and CASI work.
• Green Finance Institute (GFI): UK-based membership organization that convenes industry, regulators, and academia to develop green finance frameworks. Comparable to IFS in operating model (think tank + secretariat + standards-development) and in its work on taxonomies, transition finance, and capacity building — UK counterpart to IFS's green finance institutional role.
• Climate Policy Initiative (CPI): Global policy research organization that analyzes climate finance flows and produces investment roadmap reports for emerging and developed economies. Directly comparable to IFS for its policy-research-and-quantification model and authorship of foundational climate-finance landscape studies in multiple jurisdictions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/institute-of-finance-and-sustainability

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS)