Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the World Bank have announced two significant initiatives at the COP28 in Dubai to guide the financial sector towards supporting nature-positive outcomes.
This announcement follows the guidelines set out in the 2022 report ‘An Exploration of Nature-related Financial Risks in Malaysia’.
A key element of this collaboration is a risk assessment guide for Malaysian financial institutions and businesses, developed in consultation with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). This guide will assist organisations in evaluating their environmental impact, utilising the TNFD’s LEAP approach.
The LEAP approach (Locate, Evaluate, Assess, Prepare) is an integrated process developed by TNFD to help organisations identify and assess nature-related impacts, dependencies, risks, and opportunities, even without formal disclosure
Furthermore, the initiatives include mobilising private capital for nature-based solutions, with BNM and the World Bank spearheading the development of financial tools and regulations that favor nature-positive outcomes.
Bank Negara Malaysia’s Governor Datuk Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said,
“The partnership announced today is in recognition of the implications of nature-related risks to a megadiverse country like Malaysia. The collaboration sealed today will bring about greater alignment between financial flows and positive outcomes.“
Ndiame Diop, World Bank’s Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand said,
“With this collaboration, Malaysia aims to develop robust measures to increase finance for the natural world, thereby setting a good example for other nations grappling with nature-related financial and economic risks.”
In his address at Malaysia’s Climate Finance Day, Governor Ghaffour highlighted the Malaysian financial sector’s substantial commitment to ESG purposes, totaling over US$ 43 billion.
He projected that by 2026, at least half of new financing by Malaysian banks will align with climate-supporting or transitioning activities. This is part of Malaysia’s broader strategy to attract global partnerships and investments in its journey towards a sustainable energy transition, requiring an estimated US$ 280 billion by 2050.
Governor Ghaffour further outlined Malaysia’s vision to become a renewable energy hub for ASEAN and a key facilitator of green finance globally, estimated to reach around US$ 275 trillion by 2050.
BNM also intends to explore blended finance models to enhance the feasibility of green and transition projects, particularly benefiting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
