LAUNCH OF SUSTAINABLE FINANCIAL SERVICES POLICY PLANNING GUIDE
Jakarta - Today (27/8), WWF released a practical guidebook entitled "Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Integration for Banks: A Guide to Starting Implementation", which is intended for banks - as lenders, financial advisors, and capital providers - to integrate environmental, social and governance aspects into their core business, so that banks do not only act to manage reputation and risk, but also strive to drive sustainable business transformation.
This guide seeks to assist banks to calculate the credit risk of various business activities that have the potential to have an impact on environmental degradation. Socialization of this guide will be held in several countries in Asia, including Indonesia, until the end of 2014.
WWF-Indonesia CEO, Dr. Efransjah, explained, "WWF seeks to provide operational guidance for banks that often intersect with business sectors that have not yet implemented sustainable principles - and can even become the foundation of financial services transformation in Indonesia. This guide is suitable for use by banks in Indonesia that will begin the process of integrating environmental, social and governance aspects."
Deputy Director of the Financial Services Authority, Edi Setijawan, said, "The launch of the ESG Guide is in line with the Agreement between the Ministry of Environment and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) on Enhancing the Role of Financial Services Institutions (FSIs) in Environmental Protection and Management through the Development of Sustainable Financial Services (Sustainable Finance)."
""This agreement encourages an increase in the role of Financial Services Institutions as an answer to national problems - especially in providing funding for priority economic sectors that are environmentally friendly such as energy, agriculture, industry, infrastructure and MSMEs - and as an answer to global problems in the form of the impact of climate change on the economy. Sustainable finance is also expected to encourage FSIs to pay more attention to the balance of the 3Ps (people, profit, planet), the protection and management of natural resources, and the participation of all parties in carrying out their business," said Edi.
Edi also added, ""ESG Guide is interesting because it combines and shows the interconnection of two major issues, namely good corporate governance (GCG) and risk management, especially environmental and social risks. This book can be used as a reference for FSIs in improving their risk management and GCG capabilities."
"This book is the first guide that maps out practical steps for financial services institutions that are pioneering the adoption of ESG in their policies. It provides a reference on managing the risk of exposure to unsustainable business entities," said WWF Regional Asia Finance and Commodities Program Specialist, Jeanne Stampe.
WWF hopes that this guide can be an initial reference and contribute to establishing banking practices in Indonesia in order to develop sustainable financial services launched by the government.
For more information, please contact:
Rizkiasari Yudawinata, Market Transformation Officer for Private Sector Policy, WWF-Indonesia (rjoedawinata@wwf.or.id, +62 811 234 4343+62 811 234 4343)
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