AIFC Green Finance Centre held a webinar on “Recent sustainability and integrated reporting developments”
On November 18, 2021, the AIFC Green Finance Centre held a webinar on “Recent sustainability and integrated reporting developments” in cooperation with PwC Kazakhstan and Abzal Narymbetov, founder of the Energy Analytics telegram channel.
Speakers at the webinar made presentations on sustainable investing, international ESG reporting standards and their future, reporting requirements under the new Environmental Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as aspects of ESG reporting from practice.
Vassiliy Kalabin, Manager, ESG expert, PwC Advisory, and Zhazira Zhanadilova, Manager, PwC Advisory, spoke about the importance of ESG integration in making investment decisions, types of responsible investing and strategies, how ESG integrates into the decision making process, as well as examples of sustainable investment initiatives.
Akbota Askanbay, Director of Corporate Governance and ESG Practice, PwC Kazakhstan, and Sabyrzhan Yeltuzerov, Manager, PwC Kazakhstan, made a presentation on international ESG reporting standards and their future, the reasons for the importance, global and regional regulations of ESG reporting, and climate related frameworks/standards.
Zhanar Alikulova, Manager, Department of Legal services, PwC Kazakhstan, and Assel Iskakova, Senior Associate, Department of Legal services, PwC Kazakhstan, spoke about the international obligations of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of sustainable development and their implementation in national legislation, as well as reporting requirements on greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the new Environmental Code.
Abzal Narymbetov, founder of the Energy Analytics telegram channel, spoke about the practical aspects of ESG reporting. Abzal made examples of ESG reports of major international companies and particularly elaborated on the examples of ENI, TotalEnergies, Chevron, as well as talked about ESG rating indices and expectations from ESG.
The webinar recording is available here. (Access code: 3HGP&$50)
Currently, the AIFC Green Finance Centre is developing competencies to provide ESG reporting services for organizations starting from 2022.
Reference:
Astana International Financial Centre was established on the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev as part of the National Plan “100 steps to implement five institutional reforms”. On July 2, 2020, as part of the meeting of the AIFC Management Council, the Center’s Development Strategy was adopted until 2025.
According to it, the vision of the AIFC is to become a leading international financial centre in the region, including Central Asia, the Caucasus, the EAEU countries, Western China, Mongolia and Eastern Europe.
The mission of AIFC is to promote the sustainable long-term development of the region. As the Head of State noted, K.Tokayev, “The AIFC with its unique capabilities can act as a universal platform connecting the countries of the region”. www.aifc.kz
The AIFC Green Finance Centre is a subsidiary organisation of the AIFC Authority and the Eurasian Development Bank, aimed at introduction and development of sustainable finance instruments and attracting of investments in environmental and social projects in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
The AIFC Green Finance Centre supported the very first issuance of green bonds and first verified green loan in Kazakhstan. Also, the Centre introduced definitions of green finance and green taxonomy (a classifier of economic activities and projects that meet technical selection criteria) in the national environmental legislation. The new legislation provides incentives for entrepreneurs who use green finance instruments. gfc.aifc.kz
