FMDQ Group Restates Commitment To Sustainable Environmental Practices

As a sustainability-focused financial market infrastructure (FMI) group, FMDQ Group Plc has restated its commitment to the preservation of the environment.

FMDQ Group stated this while joining the global community to commemorate the 2022 World Environment Day. With the theme ‘Only One Earth’, the 2022 World Environment Day, championed by the United Nations Environment Programme, rings true as a constant reminder of our duty to ensure the preservation of our environment through sustainable environmental practices, as climate change remains an existential threat to humanity.

FMDQ Group in a statement to LEADERSHIP said that “Its strong commitment to the preservation of the environment is firmly entrenched in its Sustainability Agenda, which has the ‘Environment’ as one of its five Sustainability Pillars and is hinged on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy, Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production, and Goal 13 – Climate Action.

“Furthermore, FMDQ Group in recognition of the need for Nigeria to continuously stay at the forefront of the global sustainable finance drive, and acknowledgment of the potential of Nigerian financial markets to provide the requisite funding for climate-resilient investments has taken the lead in championing sustainable finance initiatives.”It added that notable amongst these initiatives include the launch and successful implementation of the Nigerian Green Bond Market Development Programme (NGBDP), with Financial Sector Deepening Africa, to accelerate the development of green bonds as a tool for Nigeria to broaden investments in green projects and assets.

said the NGBDP has successfully impacted over 928 financial market stakeholders through over 34 capacity building meetings and supported the issuance of four Corporate Green Bonds and two  Sovereign Green Bonds with a total value of N58.51 billion, adding that “The NGBDP also recently launched an Impact Report on its activities and how it has supported the use of green bonds in financing low carbon infrastructure in Nigeria.”

According to FMDQ, Nigeria, in response to being listed among the top 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change globally, has, through its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) pledged a 20 per cent reduction of emissions below business as usual and a further 45 per cent reduction conditional on receiving financial support, capacity building and technology transfer.

“Globally, financial markets are assuming a more significant role in the drive to curb the impact of climate change through advocacy and increased investment in sustainability-linked financial instruments, such as green and blue bonds, as the long-term financial benefits of integrating ESG principles in investments far outweigh any immediate cost.”

FMDQ Group said it remains focused on implementing more sustainable-focused initiatives in support of the actualisation of Nigeria’s ambitious NDC commitment and is commemorating the 2022 World Environment Day with the launch of its recycling initiative, FMDQ Triple R Initiative, in support of a circular economy.