Although it isn’t set to be fully published until Q1 of 2022, what’s claimed to be the world’s first green fintech taxonomy is seeking public review by its authors: the Green Digital Finance Alliance (GDFA) and the Swiss Green Fintech network.
The taxonomy was launched at the Building Bridges Summit in Geneva, and seeks to harmonise the approach made on green fintechs by policymakers, investors, and market actors.
The green fintech taxonomy, which aims to develop and stimulate the green fintech market, provides classification of green fintechs, including:
- Green digital payment and account solutions;
- Green digital investment solutions;
- Digital ESG-data and -analytics solutions;
- Green digital crowdfunding and syndication platforms;
- Green digital risk analysis and insure-tech;
- Green digital deposit and lending solutions;
- Green digital asset solutions.
The report then maps the main databases leveraged by each category of green fintech – providing an overview of which datasets (if made accessible) could drive a greater supply of green fintech innovation.
Open-source datasets that have enabled the most fintech innovation in this area include open-source earth observation data from Copernicus and NOAA databases; carbon inventories and carbon accounting databases; voluntary carbon credit registries and open banking data infrastructure. There are also proprietary company databases managed by ESG data vendors.
Structuring Internet of Things (IoT) and data in infrastructures – such as national or regional data hubs – has the potential to accelerate green fintech innovations across the taxonomy categories, adds the report.
With the landscape having evolved to encompass new types of commercial applications, the third wave of fintech market development is firmly upon the industry. Defined by fintech solutions that seek to better align behaviours of the financial system with green objectives, this wave will be guided by taxonomies like the GDFA’s.
