Dokyu-sang "Establishment of Dedicated Green Finance Teams in Policy Financial Institutions... Formation of 'Green Finance Association'"

The 3rd 'Green Finance Promotion TF' General Meeting

Dokyu-sang, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] The government will establish dedicated green finance organizations within each policy financial institution. To minimize overlapping support and maximize synergy effects, a 'Green Finance Council' among policy financial institutions will also be formed. Additionally, a climate risk management and supervision plan will be established by March, and the construction of a green finance platform (tentative name) will be considered.

On the 25th, the government held the 3rd full meeting of the 'Green Finance Promotion Task Force' chaired by Do Gyusang, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, and announced this year's green finance promotion tasks based on these contents.

In his opening remarks, Vice Chairman Do stated, "This year, we aim to systematically promote 12 tasks across three major areas, including various green infrastructure improvements."

The three major areas are ▲ Strengthening the role of the public sector ▲ Revitalizing private finance ▲ Improving green finance infrastructure. The 12 tasks include ▲ Developing strategies to expand funding support in the green sector ▲ Establishing dedicated green finance organizations within each policy financial institution ▲ Creating a Green Finance Council among policy financial institutions ▲ Reflecting green finance performance in fund management company selection criteria ▲ Establishing a green classification system ▲ Preparing model guidelines for green finance in the financial sector ▲ Implementing a pilot project for green bond guidelines ▲ Developing climate risk management and supervision plans for financial companies ▲ Gradually mandating corporate environmental information disclosure and publication ▲ Reviewing revisions to the Stewardship Code ▲ Establishing an environmental standard evaluation system ▲ Building an information-sharing platform.

Vice Chairman Do mentioned, "We will establish and expand dedicated green finance organizations within each policy financial institution to ensure their settlement," and added, "To minimize overlapping support among policy financial institutions and maximize synergy effects, we will establish a Green Finance Council among these institutions." He further stated, "The Financial Services Commission will regularly check the progress and difficulties of policy financial institutions in promoting green finance and support institutional improvements."

He emphasized, "We will support the creation of a self-sustaining green ecosystem in the financial sector," and added, "We will prepare model guidelines for green finance that can be commonly applied across the financial sector to help each financial company establish a green finance system suited to their characteristics and situations. In particular, we plan to introduce exemption clauses to encourage active green finance work by financial company employees."

Furthermore, he said, "We will continue impact analysis work such as stress tests to assess how directly and significantly climate change and the transition to a low-carbon society affect the financial sector, and plan to establish climate risk management and supervision plans."

Vice Chairman Do also presented plans to improve and expand green finance-related infrastructure. He stated, "To firmly establish a green investment foundation, we will gradually expand the mandatory disclosure and publication of corporate environmental information," and expressed, "We will comprehensively review the Stewardship Code, which has been in effect for five years, to encourage institutional investors to strengthen their environmental responsibility investments."

He added, "We will establish an evaluation system for environmental assessments of domestic companies and consider building an information-sharing platform to facilitate smooth information exchange among market participants."

In closing, Vice Chairman Do quoted Christine Lagarde, former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying, "The risks climate change poses to the financial sector stem from Disregard, Delay, and Deficiency," and urged, "Financial sector stakeholders should also focus their interest and capabilities to firmly establish the foundation of green finance in our country."