Today, the Executive Chairman of the Supervisory Board of WWF Indonesia Foundation, Kemal Stamboel officially handed over the "Sustainable Palm Oil Financing Guide" to the Financial Services Authority (OJK) represented by Nelson Tampubolon, one of the members of the Board of Commissioners and Chief Executive of Bank Supervision of OJK, during the opening session of the "2016 International Sustainable Finance Forum" held in Nusa Dua, Bali.

This guide is one of the achievements of the "pilot project" of WWF-Indonesia and OJK in advancing the pioneers of sustainable banking practices - which has now entered the third semester of implementation. This guide was developed to support one of OJK's targets in providing practical guidance on sustainable finance in priority sectors in Indonesia, one of which is agriculture. The palm oil sector as a sub-sector of agriculture has been carefully selected for reference because the sector's "sustainability journey" process is the most advanced compared to other agricultural sectors.

The creation of the Sustainable Palm Oil Financing Guidelines aims to:

1. Assist financial services institutions, especially banks, in assessing and mitigating environmental and social risks when transacting with companies from the palm oil sector.
2. Encourage the improvement of the portfolio and reputation of Financial Institutions/banks in financing sustainable palm oil production.

This guide is designed to support FSIs in developing sustainable palm oil finance policies and as a basic foundation for developing more practical and adaptive procedures.

At the international seminar, OJK also announced the 2016 Sustainable Finance Awards. PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) which is one of the eight banks participating in the pilot project "First Movers on Sustainable Banking" won the award for the best category and best book IV category. For that, WWF-Indonesia congratulates BRI for its achievement.

Sustainable Banking Network (SBN) is a network for knowledge sharing and capacity building among stakeholders in the banking sector including regulators and associations at the global level that focuses on advancing the sustainable finance agenda. OJK as a regulator is one of the founders of SBN and is a pioneer in promoting sustainable finance in an integrated manner at the market level.

SBN currently consists of 31 member countries representing more than 85% of banking assets in emerging markets, thus playing a key role in achieving the sustainable economy agenda. In this regard, the private sector IFC under the World Bank Group, acts as the network secretariat, serves as a strategic and technical advisor, as well as the organizing committee of the SBN meeting with its members at the global level.

In December 2014, OJK launched a breakthrough in the form of the Indonesia Sustainable Finance Roadmap. The scope of this roadmap covers the financial sector at large, including banking, capital markets, insurance, leasing, and pension funds. The roadmap aims to contribute to the national commitment to tackle climate change and support the transition to a competitive low-carbon economy. In addition, an umbrella policy is currently being drafted to provide practical guidance on how to green the financial system in Indonesia as a whole.

The 4th annual SBN meeting was organized in Bali, Indonesia, by IFC and OJK.

For more information, please contact:
Rizkiasari Yudawinata, Senior Officer for Private Sector Policy and Responsible Investment, WWF-Indonesia
Email: rjoedawinata@wwf.or.id, cell: +62 811 234 4343