ABUJA – The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on Thursday identified critical innovations in the [pro_ad_display_adzone id=”8″]300+ trillion dollars financial system, which if brought to scale, could help to close the widening sustainable development investment gap.
A statement from UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
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in Abuja, identified the key innovations to bridge the gap in a report launched at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.
“Following the financial crisis, increasing focus is being placed on how the financial system can fulfil its underlying purpose to serve the long-term health of the global economy.
“The new publication, Pathways to Scale, is the third progress report from the UNEP Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System.
“It draws on work across 12 countries and a range of critical sectors, such as banking, insurance, investment and securities.
“A key problem is that financial markets still do not effectively price environmental resources with the result that the value of natural capital stocks, such as clean air, productive soils and abundant water which is falling in 116 out of 140 countries across the world.“
According to statement, the Inquiry’s high potential innovations include three major asset pools, namely banking, bond markets and institutional investment.
The UNEP Inquiry is a two-year initiative launched in January 2014.
The Inquiry is guided by a high level Advisory Council of financial regulators, leading financial market actors and experts as well as growing international network of partners in central banks, among others.
The Inquiry said that banks hold the largest pool of global financial assets of 139 trillion dollars and leadership by developing countries.
“Leadership by developing countries such as Bangladesh, Brazil and China in ‘green credit’ regulations points to a new phase in international banking standards,’’ it added.
The statement quoted Achim Steiner, the UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, noted that the World needed to generate inclusive wealth and financial system.
“If we are to generate truly inclusive wealth then we need a financial system that can efficiently invest in the human, productive and natural capital on which we all depend.
“What is heartening is the increasing evidence that central bank governors, finance ministries and major investment funds recognise that new ‘rules of the game’ are not just necessary and possible but can deliver real benefits,” Steiner said. (NAN)
