Interest in sustainable business models is moving into the mainstream among banks, according to the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank.

More than 100 banks from 51 countries have entered the 2007 FT Sustainable Banking Awards, created by the IFC and the Financial Times - more than double last year's total. The interest in banking sustainability outside the developed economies is shown by the involvement of financial institutions from China, Russia, Pakistan and Uganda among almost 50 entries from emerging markets.