The main event in the field of green growth was held in the city of Nur-Sultan

AIFC Authority

13.09.2019

The second annual Green Growth Forum, organized by the Green Finance Center of the Astana International Financial Centre together with Tsinghua University and with the support of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of Great Britain, was held on September 10-12 in Nur-Sultan.

Over 400 foreign experts, politicians and business representatives discussed topical issues of ecology, waste management and the effective transition to a green economy.

The Green Growth Forum, launched in 2018, has become the main annual green growth event in Central Asia and a meeting place for green finance professionals around the world. Opening the event, AIFC Governor Kairat Kelimbetov noted that the center is working on the issue of green bonds and Islamic bonds or green sukuk.

“We are currently working with government and quasi-government bodies to ensure the issuance of the first green bonds on our exchange. Including sovereign green bonds. As part of the development of the Islamic finance market, we are working on the issue of green and Islamic bonds or green sukuk. In addition, we are actively working with the akimats of the city of Nur-Sultan, the city of Almaty, to form a pool of green projects for which new green financial instruments can be used. We believe in our ambitious goal that the AIFC platform will become a leader in the field of green finance in the entire Central Asian region” Kelimbetov explained.

According to the AIFC Governor, in April 2019, the Astana International Exchange became a signatory to the principles of green investment.

«Astana International Exchange adopted unique CIS rules for the issue and circulation of green bonds, developed on the basis of the Green Bond Principles of the International Capital Markets Association and Standards of the Climate Bonds Initiative. Under the Belt and Road Initiative, a special exchange segment of the Belt and Road market was already created to finance such projects» – pointed AIFC Governor.

The Green Growth Forum, launched in 2018, has become the main annual green growth event in Central Asia and a meeting place for green finance professionals around the world.

The first AIFC GREEN FINANCE AWARDS 2019 awards ceremony was held as part of the forum, where three nominees received high awards in the field of green finance.

The Award for Greening the Belt and Road Initiative was presented to Dr. Ma Jun, Director of the Green Finance Research Center at Tsinghua University, Chairman of the China Green Finance Committee.

Award in the nomination “For contribution to the development of the green financial system in Kazakhstan”, the prize was awarded to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

“I think it is a great honor for the EBRD to receive this award. The bank was created about thirty years ago. Today we are one of the leaders in Kazakhstan. Firstly, it is financing SMEs, where we are at the forefront. Secondly, the development of the capital market. We also work with the central bank and the AIFC to develop the capital market. And the third area is green financing”, explained Bruno Balvanera, Managing Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for Central Asia.

The Award in the nomination “For the Opening Green Finance Markets” was awarded to the Climate Bonds Initiative by the AIFC Governor.

“This year, we initiated the Green Finance Awards for achievements in the field of green finance. Such International Prizes exist in the field of financial technology, Islamic finance, and today the award ceremony will take place and we hope that in the future the number of nominees will grow, as new tools will appear and our achievements will grow. We hope that our initiative to encourage the contribution of market participants to the development of green finance will become a good tradition and will contribute to the popularization and development of this important area for each country and region”, Kelimbetov emphasized.

Also, a panel discussion on the topic of green taxonomy was held within the framework of the forum.

Dr. Ma Jun, director of Tsinghua Green Finance Center and chairman of the China Green Finance Committee, pointed out 5 reasons to develop taxonomy: First, to prevent green-washing; Second, to clearly define green financial products; Third, to measure performances; Fourth, to lay the foundation for government policy incentives; Five, to improve information disclosure.

According to Dr. Ma Jun, the Astana International Financial Centre will soon be able to issue the first green bonds.

“The AIFC has a program for issuing green bonds, and, as I understand it, this program will be launched soon at least five such bonds are planned to be launched. Therefore, if you are interested in issuing green bonds, then the infrastructure is already available. If you plan to do this, then you can do it” concluded the chairman of the Green Finance Committee of China.

The development of green finance is one of the key areas of development of the Astana International Financial Centre. The AIFC Green Finance Center is creating a single platform for issuing green bonds to companies involved in projects to improve the efficiency of existing natural resources, reduce negative environmental impacts, improve energy efficiency, mitigate climate change and adapt to climate change.

In 2017, the AIFC participated in the development of the concept of the International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects, and as a result, Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev launched this project and the center occupied its niche. In 2018, the first Green Growth Forum was held at which the AIFC presented the concept of water conservation in Kazakhstan and it was recommended that a national company be established in the future to manage these water resources. Already in 2019, at its site, the AIFC created a Green Finance