Catalyzing Green Finance: A Concept for Leveraging Blended Finance for Green Development

The origins of this publication can be traced back to discussions between an Asian Development Bank (ADB) team led by Ayumi Konishi, director general for East Asia Department, with officials from the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and from the People’s Bank of China, in Beijing in September 2016. These meetings highlighted the need for a product that could provide an impetus to the need for mainstreaming green finance to infrastructure financing in Asia and the Pacific. The PRC has been at the forefront of driving the green finance momentum through its leadership of the G20 in 2016. Besides being a global leader in the issuance of green bonds, the PRC has also led a Green Finance Task Force constituted in 2014 with the United Nations Environment Programme Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System (UNEP Inquiry). This produced a comprehensive set of recommendations on the establishment of a green finance system in 2015.