Need to find a way to track your corporate clients’ emissions? It’s a situation many banks and financial institutions find themselves in. There’s regulatory pressure to account for the greenhouse gas emissions tied to lending and investment activities, aka financed emissions. An effective RFP to measure financed emissions is essential for selecting the right partners and tools to capture this data accurately. For banks, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent a large share of their corporate clients. Their emissions also happen to be the most difficult to track.
Issuing a well-structured Request for Proposal (RFP) is a key first step in identifying the right partners and tools to collect and manage this data at scale. To help you get started quickly, download our free RFP Template. This guide walks you through how to structure that RFP to measure finance emissions among your SME clients.
What is an RFP to measure financed emissions and why does it matter?
An RFP is a formal document that invites vendors to submit bids for a specific project or solution. Unlike informal procurement or exploratory conversations, an RFP ensures:
- A transparent, structured selection process
- Clear alignment on technical and regulatory requirements
- Comparable proposals that accelerate decision-making
In the context of financed emissions, it also ensures your institution can meet climate disclosure regulations (like CSRD), improve ESG risk management, and better support clients on their transition journeys.
1. Know your objective: why are you issuing this RFP?
The first step in crafting a successful RFP is having clarity on your “why.” Banks are increasingly driven by a range of factors when it comes to measuring financed emissions. These often include regulatory pressures, such as CSRD, ISSB, or ECB requirements, alongside internal commitments like net-zero targets.
Many institutions are also recognizing the limitations of using proxy-based emissions estimates and are now seeking real, verifiable data directly from their SME clients. The motivation can also be more strategic: a desire to embed sustainability more deeply across the SME portfolio and position your bank as a proactive partner in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
2. Define the scope and requirements
Your RFP should outline exactly what you’re looking for in a solution. For an RFP to measure financed emissions this could include:
Functional Requirements
- User-friendly emissions calculator (GHG Protocol-aligned)
- Scope 1, 2, and 3 coverage (aligned with EFRAG’s VSME framework)
- Automated transaction-level emissions data
- Generation of science-based transition plans for SMEs
- ESG dashboard to identify financing risks and opportunities
Technical Requirements
- API integration with your existing banking platform
- No separate logins for SMEs
- GDPR-compliant data management
- Scalable to accommodate all your SME clients
3. Identify stakeholders early
Creating a successful RFP requires input from across the organization. Bring in colleagues from your teams in:
- Sustainability/ESG – To define data, reporting, and regulatory needs
- Corporate Banking – To ensure smooth client integration
- IT – To validate technical compatibility and scalability
- Risk and Compliance – To ensure adherence to data privacy and audit requirements
- Finance – To align on cost/benefit and investment return
By getting your internal stakeholders aligned from the get-go you’ll be able to move forward a lot faster with your RFP. And the final result will be so much better for it!
The data challenge and how an RFP to measure financed emissions can solve it
Banks don’t have a financed emissions problem, they have a data problem. The real challenge lies in getting easy access to reliable, actionable information from SME clients.
The right RFP can address this by bringing in solutions that empower SMEs to actively engage with emissions tracking and take meaningful steps toward decarbonization. It also ensures banks receive real, auditable data to meet ESG reporting requirements while building the long-term infrastructure needed for climate-aligned lending.
This is about future-proofing your bank’s role in the net-zero transition and equipping your SME clients with the tools they need to succeed in a low-carbon economy. And it’s just one RFP away.
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