Leveraging green financing for sustainable growth

• HSBC joins as Thematic Partner for Colombo Development Dialogues on Green Development 

The challenges for sustainable development have been further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has evolved from a health shock to an economic and social crisis. Yet, significant efforts have been made around the world for structural reform to build resilient systems capable of shaping the development pathways, from beyond a crisis and into an opportunity. This emphasises the need to focus on adopting a green development pathway, creating an opportunity for Sri Lanka to reengineer human development, by reducing planetary pressures, and enhancing livelihoods for all.

To identify the priorities for national planning contributing to green growth, and explore avenues to unlock finance for green development, especially in a constrained economic environment, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Cooperation Ltd. (HSBC) will be partnering for the third session at the Colombo Development Dialogues on Green Development and will facilitate a conversation under the theme of ‘Sourcing Alternatives: Leveraging Green Financing for Development’ today from 10.30 a.m.-12.45 p.m. via Zoom. 

The session is a part of the Colombo Development Dialogues on Green Development, comprising a series of dialogues to support the policy positioning of green development, and reaffirm Sri Lanka’s climate and environmental commitments in the course of developmental aspirations brought together by the Ministry of Environment together with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Sri Lanka, and other co-convening partners. 

Commenting on the series HSBC Sri Lanka and the Maldives Interim CEO and Head of Wholesale Banking Stuart Rogers stated: “The Colombo Development Dialogues on Green Development provides the perfect opportunity for policymakers and businesses to start a constructive dialogue on how to move the needle on climate action in a big way. This will be crucial for building a sustainable and resilient future economy. COVID-19 has proved that we can all move quickly to confront a crisis. We need to move quickly to tackle climate change as well.” 

Speaking on the importance of bringing together such timely conversations, UNDP Sri Lanka Resident Representative Robert Juhkam stated: “This Dialogue series represents a steppingstone towards knowledge generation, systemic changes, and actionable innovations, underpinned by data, policy adjustments, sustainable and green financing alternatives, public and private collaborations — all of which is very possible by drawing on our conversations.”

The dialogues will focus on core thematic areas of Green Development and straddle four themes: The Sri Lankan Narrative for Green Development; Innovation, Stewardship and Human Agency; Green Financing; and a Multistakeholder Approach to Green Development. The Colombo Development Dialogues on Green Development series will help frame narratives while allowing key stakeholders, including government counterparts, policymakers, private sector collaborators and civil society among others, to articulate policy underpinnings to support the formulation of a National Framework for Green Development in Sri Lanka.