Chancellor of the Exchequer launches UK–Brazil Green Finance Partnership in São Paulo
Brazilian and UK organizations meet and join forces to grow sustainable development and green finance as part of 2nd annual Economic & Financial Dialogue
What’s it all about?
During a visit to Brazil for the 2nd annual UK–Brazil Economic and Financial Dialogue, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond has launched the UK-Brazil Green Finance Partnership, a commitment to mutual sustainable economic growth.
The launch event was hosted by FEBRABAN (the Brazilian Bank Federation) in São Paulo.
In his announcement speech the Chancellor stated:
“There is a clear imperative for the UK, with the world’s leading global financial centre, and Brazil, with a passionate commitment to sustainability and a huge appetite for infrastructure investment, to join forces, thereby ensuring capital flows into much-needed sustainable projects.
This Partnership will be crucial to deepening sustainable development ties between our two countries; driving innovation and thought leadership; and ultimately scaling up green capital flows.”
The Partnership was announced by the Chancellor yesterday in São Paulo and will be led by the City of London’s Green Finance Initiative and the Brazilian Sustainable Market Development Council, a jo int project between CEBDS and Climate Bonds formed in mid 2016.
The Partnership event was opened by FEBRABAN’s President, Murilo Portugal, and Justine Leigh-Bell, our Head of Market Development, and was part of the UK–Brazil Economic and Financial Dialogue, an annual gathering to strengthen relations between both nations.
The Chancellor’s address drew a diverse attendance including the UK Ambassador to Brazil Vijay Rangarajan, dozens of Brazilian and UK financial sector representatives and corporations with BNDES, Itau-Unibanco, Zurich Brasil, UBS, CPFL, Ecoagro, City of London, London Stock Exchange and CEBDS prominent.
Who said what?
Stephen Barclay, UK Treasury Minister:
“The UK-Brazil partnership offers a great opportunity in green finance. We are looking forward to constructing a discussion around the theme. It is a very exciting agenda.”
Murilo Portugal, President of FEBRABAN:
“A partnership between the UK and Brazil certainly represents an opportunity to increase the level of attention around green finance and to establish a stronger communication channel to share practices on this matter and identify new business opportunities between both parties.”
?André Salcedo, Head of Capital Markets Development, BNDES:
“The green agenda exists within BNDES and I believe that the Council, of which we are proud partners, will help to overcome the challenges of access to new markets. We are committed to making the green agenda move forward in the country.”
Marina Grossi, President, CEBDS:
“The partnership between Brazil and the United Kingdom will open doors and allow a rich exchange of information and experiences between the two countries. The role of the Council strengthens in this context, by bringing together market stakeholders. We will have challenges, of course, but the green agenda will be strong in the country.”
Sylvia Coutinho, CEO, UBS Brasil:
“We need foreign capital to finance projects that are often green in nature. Brazil has the largest environmental assets in the world, we have to create the links among investors to bring this capital to Brazil.”
Chris Mayo, Head of Primary Markets – Americas, London Stock Exchange:
“We’ve seen a lot of innovation in the green finance agenda and green bonds specifically throughout the years. We’ve had huge success with India and China recently and we believe now it’s time for Brazil to take advantage of this innovation.”
?Justine Leigh-Bell, Head of Market Development, Climate Bonds Initiative:
“This is the opportunity to the outside world to see that Brazil has the potential of being the leader in the green finance agenda. There is a lot of work to be done but the Council and our work with FEBRABAN is the perfect starting point.”
The Last Word
The Partnership is another important step towards establishing a strong green bonds market in Brazil. It is a commitment from local and UK’s stakeholders to develop sustainable finance that assists Brazil meets its climate commitments and national development goals.
It builds on the momentum established by formation of the the Sustainable Market Development Council and the growing support for green finance reflected in the latest Investor Statement.
We’ll leave the last words from the Chancellor’s announcement speech:
“Brazil is often described as “the lungs of the world”. Let’s give extra capacity to those lungs. By working together. Pairing Brazil’s next generation of global companies and the UK’s unparalleled expertise in finance. So that we can show the rest of the world how sustainable growth can be achieved.”
‘Till next time,