Under the AICB Sustainability Series 2024, the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB) and the United Nations Environment Programme — Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) co-organised a joint technical session titled “Advancing Sustainable Finance — Sustainability, Climate, and Nature” on 27–28 February 2024 at Bangunan AICB.

Conducted by international sustainability experts from UNEP FI with regional and domestic industry speakers, the session aimed to build the technical capacity of bankers to advance climate-responsive and nature-positive sustainable banking in Malaysia by addressing the interlinkages among climate mitigation, adaptation, nature, and biodiversity.

Through dynamic panel discussions, engaging presentations, and detailed case studies, delegates gained a better understanding of sustainable finance and its various elements to guide their financial institutions on their climate mitigation journey action plans. The areas covered in the session were:

• new global and regional trends including the Nature Target Setting guidance, and the Climate Adaptation Target Setting guidance and up-to-date knowledge on Climate Mitigation Target Setting, Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB), and Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA)
• new national regulatory frameworks, directions, priorities, and guidelines of Malaysia
• accelerating financial innovations and public-private partnerships by identifying opportunities, exploring thematic alignments, and building the technical know-how
• upgrading knowledge and skills in sustainability reporting, considering climate risks, disclosure, and alignment, and
• insights from synergetic dialogues among regulatory, public, and private finance leaders.

Over 70 delegates comprising mid- and senior-level officers of banks and financial institutions in Malaysia working in the key areas of sustainability, credit, risk, compliance, and individuals leading or involved in the net-zero transition and sustainability efforts of their respective organisations attended the session.

Muhammad Ridzwan Ali, Senior Assistant Secretary, Climate Change Division, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) Malaysia delivered the Special Remarks on Outcomes of COP28 — Policy Implications and the Way Forward for Malaysia.

Click here to view the programme.