According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), there is an urgent need to increase green finance flows to emerging market economies.
In the closing remarks at a G20 finance event in Mumbai, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das indicated that investment needs for a smooth green transition are large, but actual financial flows to green projects are “by and large, concentrated in advanced economies.” These investment flows are dependent on ESG ratings, therefore it is important for green ratings to reflect the actual environmental impact of a project to avoid ‘greenwashing.’ A multilateral debt relief program providing assistance to low-income countries with high debt levels needs to be considered on a priority basis.
This initiative can be designed with a clear focus on the utilisation of debt relief for sustainable development projects and poverty reduction efforts. Instruments such as debt-for-development swaps and green debt relief programs could be employed.
About the Authors
Associate Director, Investment Banking
Prachurjya has over 16 years of experience in investment banking with Acuity Knowledge Partners. At Acuity, he has led sector and product-specialist pilot teams across Capital Markets, ESG, Debt Advisory, Loan Syndications, Metals & Mining and Real Estate. He has been actively involved in setting up and on-boarding new ESG Advisory, ESG DCM and Sustainable Finance teams for various bulge bracket investment banks. Within DCM and Rating Advisory, he has been instrumental in helping the clients achieve over 30% in annual savings on both regular and adhoc tasks through standardization of the outputs and deployment of our proprietary BEAT tools.
Delivery Manager, Investment Banking
Puja has 6 years of extensive experience in ESG, Climate Change & Sustainability and she is supervising the ESG team at Acuity. She also has diverse experience in conducting ESIA, EHS compliance audits, ESG Risks and Controls, EHS & ESG Due Diligence assessments. Prior to joining Acuity, she was working with companies like KPMG Global Services, EY India and ERM India. She has expertise in provisioning extensive research requirements for clients through preparation of Peer Benchmarking, Target Compilation, Sustainability report, Sustainable Finance Updates and Sectoral ESG Thematic Detailing Engagement.
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