The Green Finance Industry Taskforce (GFIT), a body convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has unveiled several initiatives that seek to accelerate the environmentally-conscious transformation of the Singaporean financial system.
GFIT has issued a detailed implementation guide for climate-related disclosures by financial institutions (FIs). This acts as a framework to help banks assess eligible green trade finance transactions. It has also released a whitepaper on scaling green finance in the real estate, infrastructure, fund management and transition sectors.
The guide sets out best practices that are aligned with the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. It also outlines specific disclosure practices for the insurance, banking and asset management sectors, taking into account the unique features of each. This, MAS said, will help to enhance the quality of FIs’ climate disclosures, and facilitate more consistent and comparable disclosures across FIs.
The taskforce will also launch a series of workshops to build capacity in green finance, targeted at financial institutions and corporates, with support from its industry association partners. These workshops will run from this month until April 2022.
“GFIT’s initiatives to enhance climate-related disclosures and strengthen green capabilities will enable financial institutions to effectively develop green solutions and align their portfolios towards facilitating Asia’s transition to a low carbon economy,” said Gillian Tan, assistant managing director (development and international), MAS.
“These initiatives will also contribute to global efforts to achieve greater consistency and comparability in climate-related disclosures, as well as provide investors and market participants with the necessary information for climate risk analysis and investment decision-making.”
