We are happy to announce that UKRGASBANK became the first partner from Ukraine to join the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, a community of climate leaders brought together with the goal of putting in place effective carbon pricing policies that maintain competitiveness, create jobs, encourage innovation, and deliver meaningful emissions reductions.
The Ukrainian economy is one of the most energy-intensive in the world and requires immediate modernization. The system of pricing for GHG emissions, which aims to stimulate green investments, is the tool that may drive renewable energy and energy efficiency development in Ukraine.
In 2016, Ukrgasbank, in cooperation with IFC, started to develop green banking in Ukraine. Today, Ukrgasbank is the first and only bank in the region with a focus on green finance. Since the inception of the project, Ukrgasbank financed more than 330 projects for corporate clients and SMEs in an amount in excess of EUR 400 million. These projects eliminate nearly 900 thousand tons of CO2 emissions a year. We believe that financing low-emission projects will drive sensible actions on climate change.
As the Coalition partner, Ukrgasbank will gain access to the platform for knowledge sharing, targeted technical analysis and public-private dialogues that guide successful carbon pricing policy adoption and accelerate implementation.
“Our experience in financing green projects and cooperation with regulatory authorities will contribute to the implementation of optimal carbon pricing mechanisms in Ukraine that will stimulate the development of green technologies and innovative projects on the market, driving new, low-carbon economic growth” — said Kyrylo Shevchenko, Ukrgasbank CEO.
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The Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition is a unique initiative that brings together the public and private sectors to introduce effective carbon pricing strategies that support competitiveness, create jobs, encourage innovation and deliver significant emission reductions.
The Coalition was formed at the United Nations Climate Summit in 2014, where 74 countries and more than 1,000 companies expressed support for carbon pricing. The official launch of the Coalition took place at COP21 in Paris in December 2015.
