THE launch of the International Platform for Sustainable Finance at the ongoing IMF/World Bank annual meetings marks the beginning of serious efforts at cooperation to pull resources together to fight climate change. Few countries have the means to finance environmentally-friendly development from their budget and therefore there is the need to raise money from the market to grow sustainably according to Valdis Dombrovskis, EU’s Vice President for Social Dialogue. Seven countries comprising Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, India, Kenya and Morocco together banded together to launch the platform.
For Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director, she is happy the IMF was the place chosen to launch the platform highlighting the importance of green finance in the fight against climate change and achieving the SDGs. Recalling her time at the World Bank where she was part of the team that launched the first green bond in 2008, Georgieva says it is important to develop market instruments that can shift resources to sustainable projects.
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“The objective of carbon pricing and tax is to capture finance for sustainable development” she says. About $900 billion has been raised according to her but this represents just 2 percent of total credit outstanding while green bond has raised just $86 billion. Raising sustainable finance from the market, in her view, should be guided the principles of transparency, disclosure, impact and cooperation.
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China despite being the workshop of the world is committed to green and sustainable development according Yi Gang, Governor of the Peoples’ Bank of China. China financial market has green instruments that is “evolving in line with the need to change lifestyle and ways of production to reduce carbon emission”.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.