Honorable Prime Minister,
Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea,
Dear colleagues, dear friends,
I am incredibly pleased to [stand] in front of you today for the very first Green Finance Summit. A year ago already, I had the privilege of being with you to launch the GFC.
I come to you today with respect and humility. We sincerely regret that our CEO has been retained in Europe due to current events, but rest assured that his heart is with us today and fully supports this Summit.
This gathering is the first of its kind in Papua New Guinea, but also in the Pacific region. I wish to warmly congratulate the Bank of Papua New Guinea for stepping in the adventure of developing a full green finance set of policies and tools. It is unprecedented in the Pacific and AFD is proud to be associated with this ambitious project, to boost green finance in PNG.
We fully support this endeavour and do command the launching of the Green finance Summit today. Why is this Green Finance Summit so important ?.
First of all, this pioneer initiative led by PNG to transform its financial sector echoes the global dynamic and efforts to align financial flows towards SDG objectives and the Paris Agreement for which PDBs and central banks play a vital role
As you know, AFD itself is a PDB and deeply convinced of the necessity and urgency to channel public and private finance towards the realization of SDG.
2025 stands as a crucial year . A year to take stock of our collective progress to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and those of the Paris climate Agreement, 10 years ago. A year to accelerate action, to ensure that we stir towards a low carbon and resilient pathway, keep the 2°C threshold within reach and put a stop to large-scale biodiversity loss.
Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Island countries and territories are on the frontline of climate and biodiversity loss impacts . Your voices are decisive to push for higher climate ambition, adaptation solutions and also financial promises. We share your concerns that international climate finance (including the commitment made at COP29) will not be enough to address all the needs for climate mitigation and adaptation.
There is indeed a need to transform financial systems worldwide and for all actors, both public and private, to work together to enable the true mobilisation of trillions in support of green economies.
That is precisely the essence of what we humbly strive for at AFD. As a public development bank , we strongly believe that there is an urgent need to leverage all financial flows, public and private, towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In 2020, AFD, as chair of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) launched the Finance in Common initiative , gathering more than 530 PDBs across the world. Its members manage around 23 trillion USD in assets and about 2.5 trillion USD in annual investments, more than 10% of total investment flows. PDBs are major investors worldwide and their role to support the achievement of the SDGs is decisive. This was reaffirmed this year again at the latest Finance in Common Summit in South Africa, organized alongside the G20 Finance Minister Meeting.
PDBs need to work as a system . Thanks to their public mandates anchored in their respective economic and social ecosystem, PDBs build bridges between governments and private sector, between domestic and international priorities, between global liquidity and microeconomic solutions, and between short-term and longer-term objectives. This is why policymakers should view PDBs as “SDG enablers” and adapt regulatory and policy frameworks to fully unleash their potential.
The event today is showcasing PNG’s pioneer initiative in that direction to empower the banks of PNG and the Pacific to play a transformative role in sustainable development.
The Green Finance Summit is a historical step in this direction. It will foster cooperation among critical stakeholders, central banks, investors, commercial banks, insurers, export credit agencies, private companies, and many international organizations.
In line with this global movement, it offers a invaluable space for networking, knowledge sharing, joint activities and we are honored and happy to be part of it with you today.
Secondly, this Summit is an important moment for the Pacific as there is indeed an urgent need for the Pacific Financial Systems to go green and to innovate in climate finance solutions
Addressing climate and biodiversity in the financial system and channelling finance towards low carbon, resilient and biodiversity-positive societies is a vital need in the Pacific region.
We all know that Pacific island countries face a double vulnerability :
- On the physical front first, the frequency and severity of climate hazards already cause increasing costs on public finances and ;
- In macroeconomic terms also, Pacific island states are facing high indebtedness, in context of specific constraints such as remoteness and low population.
Having the opportunity to discuss at regional level on the architecture of financial systems across the Pacific is precious . It will contribute to more efficient and adequate approaches to climate and nature financial related risks in the region.
Together, we should strive to propose an adequate approach for the region : building up on what development partners have been doing to strengthen central banks and public development banks as major contributors to the well-being of national economies. We stand ready to work hand in hand with you and WB, ADB, IMF, PFTAC, UNCDF.
The Inclusive and Green Finance Policy and the Green Finance Center of PNG stand as a leading example for the region. And I know that other initiatives, such as the green and blue financial bonds issued by Fiji are flourishing.
Sharing those experiences and knowledge between peers is crucial to ensure that the Pacific financial systems are not only gearing up for a much needed adaptation, since impacts are already here, but also contribute to the solution by channeling financial flows towards green and blue investments.
We do command / applaud the launching of the Green Finance Centre 5-Year Strategy that aims to review and refine GFC’s strategic direction, validate its implementation roadmap, and strengthen stakeholder collaboration to advance sustainable finance in Papua New Guinea (and beyond).
As a matter of fact, and this is my 3 rd key message : Greening the Pacific financial systems requires systemic and transformative programs to address altogether the development of green finance products, regulations, risk management, capacity building and regional cooperation
Increasing climate finance is a vital first step .
At AFD , we have more than doubled our climate finance, from 3bn€ in 2015 to 7.3bn€ in 2024, including 1/3 for adaptation.
We have also doubled our biodiversity finance to reach 1 bn€ in 2023.
In the meantime, we have scaled up our support to greening the financial system. Between 2015 and 2022, AFD committed more than 5.5bn€ to pursue this ambition, with successful examples for the Caribbean Financial System and the Indian Financial System.
Our goal is to support financial regulators and supervisors (central banks, ministries of finance and capital market authorities) to scale-up sustainable finance at 3 different levels :
- At strategic and regulatory level : the objective is to increase market transparency on green finance, notably through green finance roadmaps, national green taxonomies and standards of green/sustainable bond issuance;
- At portfolio level : we need to drive assets allocation towards low carbon and resilient investments through the development of green financial products (savings, loans, insurance, etc.), green financial incentives (grant, guarantee, etc.), and access to international green financing (green climate funds; etc.)
- At operational level : the most significant step is to incorporate physical and transition related financial risks into supervisory practice, as well as establish post-disaster financing schemes.
The mainstreaming of climate action within commercial banks and public development financial institutions is a long journey, and we are glad to embark on it with you all.
We have made significant progress already as the Greening Pacific Financial System (GPFS) project was launched exactly a year ago today. We will continue the work alongside New Zealand, GGGI and the Bank of PNG to support the implementation of concrete solutions to mainstream finance towards green and blue objectives in PNG and in the Pacific region.
With this shared ambition, the project will help initiate a dynamic of regional integration of financial systems on sustainable development issues, particularly related to climate change and strengthen the capacity of public financial actors in the region to mobilize the private sector in climate change financing while promoting informed climate risk management.
As a result, the initiative will increase the preparedness of Pacific Central Banks to climate shocks and improve regional cooperation between Central Banks. It will improve the climate resilience and green growth capacities of public development banks in the Pacific, including through strengthening the mandate of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in the Pacific (ADFIP). Last week, a workshop organized with GGGI gathered all this pacific PDBs.
In the Pacific, we have also launched a partnership with FDB through a portfolio guarantee targeting FDB activities in favour of green and blue development. We work very closely with BCI in New Caledonia and SOCREDO in French Polynesia. We are thrilled to further support this regional move.
The green Finance Summit today highlights the potential for PNG to lead the Green finance dynamic in the Pacific. We hope we can humbly help PNG and the Pacific join the global coalitions as we have so much to learn from each other.
I very much value your participation in this global movement and am looking forward to the fruitful discussions of this first Green Finance Summit for the benefit of the people in PNG. Thank you./.