The Centre for Excellence in Financial Inclusion (CEFI) has launched the Inclusive Green Finance Policy for the Banking Sector project in the country.
The green finance policy is an initiative being rollout throughout the Pacific, with Papua New Guinea, being one of the first countries to launch the policy.
CEFI together with partners New Zealand Government, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the Bank of Papua New Guinea launched the Policy for PNG’s financial and banking sector.
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding signifies the understanding between the organizations trying to promote green and inclusive finance in the country.
Funding partner for the initiative is the New Zealand Government. New Zealand Acting High Commissioner, Nathan Ross says the policy incentivizes people to invest in climate change actions from reducing greenhouse emissions to adapting to the impacts of climate change to reach PNG’s most rural communities.
“Climate change is a critical issue for the Pacific region. New Zealand has been responding to that quite assertively domestically and also trying to increase our level of finance and support for Pacific countries to address climate change, so this is all part of our Pacific regional program to promote mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change,” said Mr Ross.
Executive Director for CEFI, Saliya Ranasinghe encouraged the banking sector to actively participate in green finance.
Mr Ranasinghe said: “We see that this is a way forward for long term sustainability. If we are giving grants that should be an end to it because there will be limited resources available.
“So this is the correct step forward, where we are looking at strong institution, private sector institutions to look at this as a viable business proposition to look at green finance and this is what we expect policy to be formulated in Papua New Guinea.”
Meanwhile, BPNG Assistant Governor, Ellison Pidik emphasized that the effort will be channelled into conducting awareness on the importance of green growth and technology.
He said the type of technology used would be affordable and relevant for all groups of people, especially for those in rural areas.
Mr Pidik said: “We expect support and contribution from all financial institutions. Commercial banks, finance companies, micro banks, savings and loan societies, to actively participate in the policy formulation process and to take ownership of this policy.”