Santo Domingo. - The Chair of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability "Alejandro E. Grullón E.", of this Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra and the Popular Foundation, and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic, as well as the Latin American Association of Financial Institutions for Development, and the Mexican Council of Sustainable Finance, delivered certificates to 21 participants who successfully completed the hybrid course on green finance.
The Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance, Iluminada Severino, said that in this course the participants were offered the necessary tools to bring their knowledge of green finance and the application of environmental, social and corporate governance criteria to financial decisions. This course was addressed to Dominican banking executives.
"The most relevant topics on the subject were covered, such as knowing the financial implications of climate change and the role played by the financial system in its mitigation and adaptation," said Vice Chancellor Severino.
While the Vice Minister of Climate Change and Sustainability of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, Milagros De Camps, highlighted that this course was a great opportunity for the 21 participants to equip themselves with the functions and tools to increase their knowledge of green finance and the application of these environmental criteria.
At the same time, she spoke about the impacts of climate change in the Dominican Republic and said that this phenomenon is the greatest challenge facing humanity. “It is a global phenomenon, but it has very important local implications. We are facing an event that affects our productive sectors and our economy. The numbers we have are highly worrying, which is why we have a lot to do and some of the effects associated with climate change can still be reversed," said the vice minister.
She explained that some of the global effects of climate change are an increase in temperatures that will have strong implications for the Dominican Republic, such as the reduction of coasts, if immediate measures are not taken.
The official announced that in 70 years the amount of rain that the country receives will be progressively reduced, until it is reduced by 35%. “That will affect our watersheds, our dams and even our energy system. The rise in sea level in 2050 will be half a meter and a reduction of 10% of our coasts”. “Those numbers make us reflect. The main challenge we have in the Dominican Republic is, precisely, access to financing, which is why we are working to increase the amount of financing for climate action, in order to mitigate the effects of climate change and increase our resilience," added the vice minister. From Camps.
Likewise, René Grullón, Banco Popular's Senior Executive Vice President of National and International Business, said that the 21 graduates of this course, as part of the contents offered by the Sustainability Chair, contribute to strengthening the capacities of the financial sector.
“This training action is relevant in order to continue promoting the design of products and services, from Financial institutions, to promote the decarbonization of the economy, contribute to the goal of reducing greenhouse gases established in the NDCs of the Dominican Government , and, support the Paris Agreement on Climate Change of which the Dominican Republic is a signatory," said Grullón.
From Peru, the representatives of the Latin American Association of Financial Institutions for Development (ALIDE) thanked the organizers and participants of this initiative, and expressed their satisfaction with the success of this hybrid green finance course. “We feel we have achieved our goal. To all of you high-level executives of the Dominican banking, we entrust you to apply the knowledge acquired, so that the entities that you represent can increasingly grant green financing, which contributes to the improvement of our Environment, "said the organization.
According to ALIDE, the purpose of this project was to transmit to the network of Dominican banks the necessary knowledge to increase their participation in climate financing and work in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
Also present at the activity were Belmarys Rodríguez, general director of the Center for Technology and Permanent Education (TEP-INICIA); the director of the “Alejandro E. Grullón E.” Sustainability Chair, Angye Rincón; the general manager of the Popular Foundation, Elías Dinzey; and the project manager of the Popular Foundation, Dabeiba Agramonte. Participate from the Mexican Council of Sustainable Finance