Jacqueline Loh: Keeping green and impact in focus Keynote speech by Ms Jacqueline Loh, Deputy Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, at Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) Virtual Conference 2020, 8 June 2020. * * * Ms Naina Batra, Chairperson and CEO, AVPN Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen 1. Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to the eighth AVPN Conference. I am very glad that AVPN has pressed on with this flagship event virtually in these unprecedented times. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant health, economic and social challenges globally. The IMF has projected that global GDP will contract by 3% this year1, 2.  marking a significantly deeper downturn than the 0.1% contraction in 2009 during the Global Financial Crisis. “The Power of Networks”, which is the theme of this year’s AVPN conference, is highly apt as we strive towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Addressing complex and multi-dimensional challenges like climate action, inequality, and 3.  quality healthcare and education requires policymakers, financial institutions, corporates, nongovernmental organisations, and multilateral development banks (MDBs), to come together on a common global challenge. The financial sector and MDBs have stepped up and shored capital towards building capacity in healthcare and pharmaceuticals, while supporting the recovery. 4. Social and sustainability bond issuances totalled $ billion in the first quarter of this year2, nearly double that of the same period last year.

MAS announced our green finance action plan last year, which comprises three key thrusts: firstly, building resilience to environmental risks; secondly, developing green finance solutions and markets; and thirdly, leveraging innovation and technology. 8. We have made good progress across all three thrusts. We will issue a consultation paper on MAS’ Environmental Risk Management Guidelines for the banking, insurance, and asset management sectors later this year. These guidelines will set standards on governance, risk management, and disclosure, to enhance the financial system’s resilience to environmental risk. Last year, we expanded the sustainable bond grant scheme to support not just green but also social and sustainability bonds. This year, to accelerate green and sustainability linked lending, we are developing a green and sustainability loan grant scheme, which aims to defray the costs of external review and bank frameworks for such loans. This seeks to increase the ease of loan origination and reduce expenses for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and encourage SMEs, corporates, as well as banks to integrate green and sustainability issues in their financing discussions and decisions. We will also be anchoring centres of excellence in Singapore, to undertake quality green finance research and talent development, with strong customisation and applications for Asia’s transition needs. The theme for the Global FinTech Hackcelerator, in this year’s Singapore FinTech Festival, is “Building Resilience, Seizing Opportunities, Emerging Stronger”. The 9. Hackcelerator will identify solutions that enable financial institutions to respond to the pandemic and climate change.