Green financing – the use of financial services and tools that aim to support economic activities to help improve the environment, mitigate the effects of climate change, and efficiently utilize natural resources – will be discussed as part of the business programme of the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi on 14–15 February. Establishing and developing a green financing system is viewed today as an integral part of the national development strategy, in particular as far as implementing national projects and when industrial enterprises incorporate the best available technologies.

Participants in the session ‘Green Financing: Developing the Responsible Investment Market’ will such issues as merging public and private financing for green industries, their investment appeal, and expanding the availability of financing. Monitoring investment in projects with a high risk level of negative environmental impact will also be an important agenda item.

The session will be attended by representatives of the financial industry, federal authorities, and experts on ecology, environmental management, and energy conservation.

“In recent years, a lot of work has been done to transition the domestic industry to modern environmental standards. Reference books of the best available technologies have been developed, and projects have been launched to create Russian environmental protection and technological equipment. The introduction of the best available practices has been granted the status of a separate federal project, which will help create demand for domestic environmental engineering products. One of the mechanisms for boosting investment in environmental projects will be the implementation of a new financial instrument for Russia – ‘green bonds’ – on which the coupon rate will be subsidized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade”, Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Vasily Osmakov said.

The business programme of the Russian Investment Forum is available on the event’s official website. The Forum is being organized by the Roscongress Foundation.