KARACHI:The Governor State Bank of Pakistan Jamel Ahmed, on Wednesday, said that the central bank has adopted a proactive approach to safeguard the financial sector against climate change and environmental risks.
He was addressing SAARCFINANCE Governors’ Symposium on the theme of “Climate Change and Green Financing: Initiatives and Outlook in South Asia”, said a statement issued here.
The symposium was hosted on the sidelines of the 43rd SAARCFINANCE Governors’ Meeting by SBP to showcase its dedication to promoting a sustainable financial system.
The Governor SBP emphasised on the importance of discussing the pressing issue of climate change in general and particularly with reference to the SAARC region and also highlighted the vulnerabilities of SAARC region to the adverse impacts of climate change and its implications on the financial system.
Jameel Ahmed remarked that globally, the financial systems were shifting towards promoting sustainability considerations and similarly, SBP has adopted a proactive approach to safeguard the financial sector against climate change and environmental risks.
He said that several green initiatives were undertaken in the regard including green banking guidelines, environmental and social risk management (ESRM) implementation manual, and financing scheme for renewable energy.
The symposium panellists shared their perspectives on the role of financial institutions in promoting sustainable finance and the ways in which green financing can be leveraged to advance climate change action in the region.
Deputy Governor SBP Sima Kamil concluded the Symposium by expressing gratitude to all the participants for their valuable contributions to the discussions.
The event was aimed at fostering greater collaboration and cooperation among SAARC member countries and international organisations to address the pressing issue of climate change.
Earlier, 43rd SAARCFINANCE Governors’ Group Meeting was held on Tuesday in Islamabad with Governor SBP Jameel Ahmad in chair. Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari, Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe and delegates from other central banks of the region participated in the meeting.
Governor SBP addressing the meeting noted that the SAARC region has confronted with multiple challenges and facing difficult times in terms of a very high inflation, slow growth, pressure on fiscal and external balances, climate changes, and increased incidence of poverty.
In this situation, the SAARCFINANCE forum provides an opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences on relevant macroeconomic policies and the need to fortify regional cooperation in the face of a challenging environment, he remarked.
The central banks’ Governors, at the occasion, took stock of the macroeconomic situation in the region, progress on different initiatives under the SAARCFINANCE forum, including database, financial inclusion, collaborative studies and capacity building.
Meanwhile, a session was arranged on SAARCFINANCE collaborative research studies completed during the year, in which SBP presented a study on the use of unconventional policy instruments by South Asian central banks.
Another study was presented by Nepal Rastra Bank on the prospects of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the SAARC region.
On the sidelines, SBP also organized the flagship, Zahid Husain Memorial Lecture, where Dr. Asim Ejaz Khwaja, from Harvard Kennedy School delivered a lecture on Democratizing Lending: The Challenges and Opportunities for Financial Inclusion in Emerging Economies.