BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 29
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Kazakhstan has entered the Global Green Finance Index leading among countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asian region, Trend reports citing Astana International Finance Center (AIF).
AIFC started working on entering the index last year and succeeded in hitting first place in Eastern Europe & the Central Asian region in GGFI 7 (April 2021). Overall Nur-Sultan ranks 57th in the world.
For the development of green finance, the AIFC has established the Green Finance Centre, which is engaged in the implementation and development of sustainable financing instruments and attracting investments in environmental and social projects in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
The Centre’s shareholders are the AIFC Authority and the Eurasian Development Bank.
The AIFC Green Finance Centre supported the very first issuance of green bonds in Kazakhstan and the region last August. Also, the Centre introduced definitions of green finance and green taxonomy (a classifier of economic activities and projects that meet technical selection criteria) in the national environmental legislation.
The new legislation provides incentives for entrepreneurs who use green finance instruments. The businesses – engaged in renewable energy, waste management, energy efficiency, smart lighting, energy-saving services, and many other sectors according to the Green Taxonomy – will be entitled to up to 50% discount on coupon and loan rates.
The Global Green Finance Index (GGFI) was launched by the Z/Yen Group and Finance Watch in March 2018. The index charts the progress of the world’s financial centers towards a financial system that delivers sustainable development and values people and the planet as much as profit.
The index is created by combining questionnaire assessments from financial services professionals, NGOs, regulators, and policymakers with instrumental factor analysis to produce rankings of green financial centers on a variety of indicators.
For each edition of the GGFI, analysis is conducted on a range of financial centers across the world. Financial center assessments are collected via an online questionnaire.