Gov’t to launch sustainable finance roadmap, guiding principles

The Inter-Agency Technical Working Group for Sustainable Finance (Green Force) led by the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), in partnership with the British Embassy Manila (BEM), is launching this week the Philippine Sustainable Finance Roadmap and Guiding Principles on the use of low carbon energy, in support of global efforts to fight climate change.

This event, which will take place at 2 PM this Wednesday (October 20) via WebEx, will present the Philippine Sustainable Finance Roadmap and Guiding Principles (GP) on policy and regulatory gaps in promoting sustainable investments through finance, implementing sustainable government initiatives, facilitating investments in public infrastructure, and developing projects that promote sustainable financing in the Philippines.

The master plan will also give an overview of the Sustainable Finance landscape in the Philippines.

This blueprint was developed under the auspices of the United Kingdom (UK) Government’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Low Carbon Energy Programme (ALCEP), which is a regional technical assistance project designed to help ASEAN member-countries harness the benefits from using low carbon energy by leveraging UK’s extensive expertise on green finance and energy efficiency.

Under this roadmap, the development of sustainable financing on green policies and programs is built on three strategic pillars, namely: a) Policy—creating a conducive environment; b) Financing—mainstreaming sustainable finance; and c) Investment—developing a sustainable pipeline.

Also, there is a set of Guiding Principles that will serve as taxonomy for the sustainable finance ecosystem in the Philippines.

The said principles have been aligned with ASEAN Standards for Green Bonds, the EU Taxonomy, and other internationally accepted standards for green taxonomy.

The Roadmap and its Guiding Principles are expected to spur investments from various financing sources to support the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution and long term priorities.

Expected to speak during the event are Ernst & Young (EY) Senior Manager Russell Marsh, Chairperson -designate of the Climate Change Commission (CCC) and DOF Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, British Ambassador-designate Laure Beaufils and BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno.

Representatives from other Green Task Force members and multilateral agencies will then be given time to express their support for the roadmap, followed by a closing message from DOF Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson Paola Alvarez.

Live broadcast of the event will be available via Radio Television Malacañang (RTVM) and the official social media channels of the DOF, BSP, BEM and EY.