BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 23
Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
International Finance Corporation (IFC) eyes to help Georgia’s financial sector unlock new areas, Ivana Fernandes Duarte, IFC’s Regional Manager for the South Caucasus told Trend.
“As climate change presents risks and opportunities for the sector, financial institutions cannot afford to be outside of the transition path to low-carbon economies," Duarte noted.
According to her, energy subsidies, emission standards, and carbon prices will all have a direct impact on the financial positions of these institutions’ clients, making climate risk an important element of any credit decision.
“To assess the opportunities and regulatory landscape for climate-finance in the Europe and Central Asia region, in 2021, IFC, in partnership with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance, conducted a multi-country mapping. The report on Georgia was completed as the pilot of this initiative. It assessed market needs, available products, financial instruments; ascertained obstacles hindering the growth of climate finance; and identified potential leads and target segments to help IFC deliver a valid value proposition to clients (financial institutions, regulators of financial markets)," she said.
According to her, to present the results of the climate finance mapping and discuss next steps to unlock the opportunities for developing sustainable finance, IFC launched a series of consultation workshops with the key stakeholders.
"We plan to release the report and its findings this fall," Duarte said.
As she noted, this work complements IFC’s close cooperation with the National Bank of Georgia to support a shared commitment to creating a sustainable finance market in Georgia.
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