Mumbai, May 16, 2016: YES BANK, India’s fifth largest private sector bank, became the First Indian Bank to partner the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC), a first of its kind voluntary partnership of national and sub-national governments, businesses, and civil society organizations; led by the World Bank Group.
Following the increased emphasis on “putting a price on carbon”, corporate and governments had initiated conversations to address climate change and its transition from ‘concern’ to ‘action’. Towards the same, The World Bank Group, business groups, and investors have called on governments and corporations around the world to support carbon pricing to bring down emissions and drive investment into cleaner options.
Launched in December 2015, during the COP21 climate negotiations in Paris by World Bank and other founding members, Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition’s vision is to cover 25% of global GHG emissions by explicit carbon prices by 2020 and to double this again by 2030. The coalition currently has 25 government partners including Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and United Kingdom and 89 private sector partners including Coca-Cola HBC AG, Ernst & Young, Nestlé, Philip, Unilever, Mahindra and Tata Group amongst others.
At the inaugural CPLC High Level Assembly on 15th April, 2016 at World Bank, YES BANK signed the CPLC in the esteemed presence of H.E Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General,
Mr. Jim Yong Kim, President - World Bank Group and Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director - IMF. As a private sector partner to CPLC, YES BANK has committed to work for building momentum of Carbon Pricing by:
- Learning to better assess the Bank’s carbon liability in a macro economic scenario
- Pricing carbon internally to optimize operations and de-risking investment decisions
- Selecting carbon free assets and practices, to build portfolio resilience and achieve a faster rate of innovation both internally and across the wider economic landscape
During the assembly, World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim said “Putting a price on carbon pollution will cut emissions, improve people’s health, and spur new investments in clean technology,” adding that success “will have a clear impact on our efforts to end extreme poverty in the world in 15 years.”
Mr. Rana Kapoor, Managing Director & CEO, YES BANK, on this prestigious moment of joining CPLC said, “We are extremely pleased to join the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition along with 25 governments and 90 companies globally to support the carbon pricing policy development momentum. As a financial institute we would have an excellent opportunity to integrate carbon pricing into our investment decisions, optimize operational performance by putting internal carbon pricing and mobilize finance towards it. In line with our COP21 commitment, YES BANK will constantly endeavour to contribute towards India’s Nationally Determined Contributions for climate risk mitigation.”
Ms. Namita Vikas, Group President and Chief Sustainability Officer, YES BANK said, “YES BANK is committed to continuously benchmark its thought leadership, policy advocacy for external stakeholders and development of effective carbon financing framework in India. By joining CPLC the Bank is positioning itself globally to leverage multi-stakeholder multilateral partnership for building capacity through knowledge banking and expand the space for effective climate action. ”
