PETALING JAYA: Continued progress is being made by financial institutions to build their capacity to manage climate risks while supporting their clients to transition, according to Bank Negara.
Following the 14th Joint Committee on Climate Change (JC3) Meeting between the central bank and the Securities Commission, Bank Negara said this was evident in the setting of climate targets, the inclusion of climate considerations in lending and monitoring processes through the use of the Climate Change and Principle-based Taxonomy framework, as well as increasing attention on sustainability in boardroom conversations.
“Support for environmental, social and governance finance is also growing with more climate finance solutions offered such as sustainable supply chain financing, green capital expenditure financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the green export technology financing programme and Asean renewable energy protection solution.
“Similarly in the capital market, 38 issuances totaling RM13.3bil have been raised under the SRI Sukuk Framework and/ or Asean Standards in 2024 via collective engagements with Government Linked Companies, Government Linked Investment Companies and corporates under the Sustainable Finance Action Plan.
This year, Bank Negara said the JC3 will continue to focus on building climate resilience of the financial sector in three key areas namely addressing data challenges, facilitating SMEs’ transition and designing climate finance solutions with a focus on sectors aligned with the National Energy Transition Roadmap and New Industrial Masterplan.