P4G Green Finance Session Successfully Concluded: Unified Call for "Strengthening Financial Cooperation"

Chairman Eun Sung-soo of the Financial Services Commission and Numerous High-Level Domestic and International Officials Attend

Attendees of the Green Finance Special Session are taking a commemorative photo. (From left) Kim Yong-jin, Chairman of the National Pension Service; Frank Rijsberman, Secretary-General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI); Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission; Han Jeong-ae, Minister of Environment; Lee Dong-gull, Chairman of the Korea Development Bank; Yannick Glemarec, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-ho Kim] The Financial Services Commission announced on the 30th that the '2021 P4G (Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030) Seoul Green Future Summit Green Finance Special Session' held the previous day was successfully conducted. The special session was attended by 13 high-level domestic and international figures, including Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, who collectively emphasized 'strengthening financial cooperation.'

In his opening remarks, Chairman Eun stressed the importance of finance in responding to climate change, including the supply of funds for green transition and encouraging green transition among loan and investment target companies. He then pointed out three gaps to activate green finance: ▲the funding gap, which is the gap between the funds needed for green transition and the actual investment funds ▲the lack of data, which is the shortage of information on individual companies' environmental impact and climate change response levels ▲and the climate change response gap between developed and developing countries.

Chairman Eun stated, "Just as Korea shared quarantine supplies and experiences with the world during the COVID-19 crisis, we will also closely cooperate with the international community to activate green finance."

Following the opening remarks, heads of three major international organizations participated in the keynote speeches. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), emphasized that 2020 was a decisive year for global climate change response and stressed that countries must set more ambitious climate response goals at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to be held in the UK this November.

Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum (WEF), mentioned that COVID-19 is an opportunity to shift the global economy toward 'sustainable growth,' and Makhtar Diop, CEO of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), announced that the World Bank Group will invest 35% of its total support funds over the next five years in projects with climate impact.

During the panel discussion, the Korea Development Bank and the National Pension Service proposed measures to activate domestic green finance. Lee Dong-geol, Chairman of KDB, said, "We will continue to promote the KDB Carbon Spread Program worth 5 trillion won targeting carbon reduction companies," adding, "We will supply more than 14 trillion won in total over the next five years to green new industries such as secondary batteries, semiconductors, and green energy." Kim Yong-jin, Director of the National Pension Service, stated, "As a representative institutional investor, the NPS's ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) evaluation system is likely to become the standard in Korea," and added, "We will share the knowledge and experience accumulated so far with companies to serve as a platform for green innovation."

The event concluded with closing remarks by Louise Pereira, Deputy General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Louise Pereira emphasized, "The financial sector must respond immediately to the increasingly expanding climate-related risks." Minister of Environment Han Jeong-ae said, "To prevent greenwashing, we are preparing a green taxonomy in cooperation with the financial sector, industry, and civic groups."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.