PH wins int’l award in Japan for its ‘environmental finance’
The Philippines has bagged an international award for developing environmental financial products in Japan, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced.
The DFA said on Jan. 19, that the Philippine government won the International Award of the 8th Sustainable Finance Awards in Japan for its issuance of the Samurai Sustainable Sovereign Bond in 2022.
Ambassador-designate Mylene Garcia-Albano received the award for the Philippines during the awarding ceremony held at the Nihon Press Centre in Tokyo.
“The Philippines, led by our President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., will continue to put climate action at the front and center of the Philippines’ pursuit of a robust and sustainable economy. Indeed, sustainable finance plays a critical role in climate action and I would like to use this opportunity to convey my sincere appreciation to the government, finance institutions, investors and people of Japan by being our partners in our green post-pandemic recovery,” Albano said.
In April 2022, the Philippines launched its first Sustainability Samurai Bonds.
The Bureau of the Treasury said this is the first ever ASEAN Sustainability bond transaction issued by the Philippines in the Samurai bond market, capturing new investor accounts and demand of more than JPY70 billion, from an initial target of JPY 50 billion.
According to the DFA, the target recipients of the awards are financial institutions and other organizations that are developing environmental financial products, services, and initiatives in the Japanese financial market.
The awards were administered by the Research Institute for Environmental Finance (RIEF), a general incorporated association that promotes and educates people about "environmental finance"— a financial approach to solving environmental problems.