The Mexican Banking Association (ABM) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) signed an agreement for the Development of Green Bonus Markets. The investments needed for Mexico to fulfil its Clean Energy goals are close to 75 thousand million dollars.

The formalization of this document, which broadens its collaboration to the Swedish bank Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB), takes place during the dual year Mexico-Germany, and represents a great opportunity to build this kind of sustainability alliances between both nations.

The signing of the memorandum was leaded by the president of the ABM, Luis Robles Miaja, and by the director of Emerging Markets for Sustainable Finances Dialogue of GIZ, Yannick Motz.

During the event, which was developed in the headquarters of ABM, Robles Miaja pointed out that, as part of the actions of Banking in terms of sustainable development, the banking sector and GIZ developed a study on the impact of the credit portfolio linked to environmental phenomenon –such as draughts- with the goal of stimulating inclusive sustainable economic growth in the country.

In this context, Robles Miaja said that the ABM will continue searching for opportunities to develop this kind of projects and reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to act as a forum for the exchange of ideas in order to stimulate inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the country, in the pursue of prosperity.

“At the ABM, we support every initiative included in the Memorandum of Understanding, which aims to promote the exchange of knowledge and create capacities linked to the green bonus market, based on the high environmental standards and international transparency regulations”, he claimed.

He mentioned that Mexico has been working hard to change its regulatory framework in order to introduce incentives that increase its productivity and contribute to its sustainable economic growth and development.

Proof of this are the 11 structural reforms implemented by the federal government. The most outstanding measures were the treasury, financial, educational, telecommunications and energy reforms, sanctioned in 2013.

This regulations introduce a major transformation in activities that go from the generation of electricity to its final commercialization. The goal is to improve productivity and increase the quality of services in the sector, as well as to enable the participation of private companies in the development of energy.

The president of the ABM assured that a vital legal reform, linked to energy, is the Law of Energy Transition, which seeks to regulate the sustainable exploitation of energy, as well as to set obligations in the development of clean energy: by 2024, 35% of our energy must come from clean sources.

The investments that Mexico needs to achieve its’ Clean Energies goal are close to 75 thousand million dollars.

“It is the ideal time to destine part of the investment portfolios towards instruments that finance infrastructure for the generation of energy using clean technologies”, he said. Robles Miaja said that it is essential to promote the use of innovative financing mechanisms such as green bonuses to attract investments.

Finally, he estimated that, even though governments play a key role in setting incentives to regulate markets and promote innovation, the private sector must also assume responsibility and generate practical actions and solutions.

“The role that banking plays in the economy as a provider of financing grants it a great potential to generate value through the implementation of sustainable criteria in its’ business model”, he concluded.

Other key figures who attended the event include the president of the Sustainable Commission of the AMB, Marcos Mancini, as well as several representatives of the German Agency for International Cooperation, the SEB Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).