Rong Zhang

Ms. Rong Zhang
Global Coordinator of Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN)
World Bank Group


Rong Zhang leads the World Bank Group–supported Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN), a global public–private platform that works with financial regulators and industry associations to shape and accelerate sustainable finance systems across emerging markets. Since its establishment in 2012, SBFN has grown into a global network of 106 member institutions from 75 developing countries, representing approximately US$79.5 trillion—around 96 percent of total banking assets in emerging markets. In this role, she provides strategic leadership to global advisory programs supporting financial markets and convening networks on sustainable and climate finance, ESG standards, taxonomies, disclosure, and transparency.

Rong has been instrumental in establishing the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Roadmap Initiative, a voluntary, multi partner implementation platform designed to make sustainable finance taxonomies interoperable and comparable across markets. The initiative addresses a critical gap in coordinating international support for taxonomy development, implementation, and use, and amplifies global efforts by aligning technical work, sharing tools and evidence, and supporting market adoption—particularly in EMDEs, where effective taxonomy uptake can significantly accelerate credible cross‑border capital flows at scale.

She represents SBFN in major international sustainable finance fora and networks, including the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group (G20 SFWG), the EU supported International Platform on Sustainable Finance (IPSF), and the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS).

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