the business strategies and operations of banks. the second phase of regulations – for which a draft is already out for industry comments – will focus on more specific expectations on the integration of climate change and environmental and social risks to the enterprise - wide risk management frameworks of banks. the third phase will include potential incentives to banks to accelerate the process of adopting sustainable principles. the bsp has also strengthened governance on treasury activities and streamlined processes to allow for more bond issuances of bsp - supervised financial institutions and contribute to the growth of capital markets. more than usd 1. 0 billion and php 85. 4 billion worth of green, social, and sustainability bonds have been issued by “ first mover ” banks since 2017. third, collaboration with other government entities. the bsp collaborated with key government agencies through the green force. the group aims to institutionalize and facilitate the implementation of a roadmap for sustainable finance. it also aims to facilitate investments in public infrastructure and mobilize funds to finance sdgrelated projects such as clean energy. the inter - agency group is currently reviewing the draft principles - based taxonomy and finalizing 5 / 7 bis central bankers'speeches the sustainable finance roadmap for the philippines. fourth, internal program. the bsp launched its internal sustainable central banking program, which fosters environmentally responsible and sustainable policies and work practices within the bsp. among which, we have started prohibiting single - use plastics within our premises. this should help instill environmentally sound habits among our employees — ahead of the anticipated nationwide ban on single - use plastics that comes along our commitment on carbon emission reduction. other initiatives. meantime, the bsp invested $ 350 million in the green bond fund launched by the bank for international settlements ( bis ) as part of sustainable investing on reserve management. also, our financial digitalization agenda — besides the obvious goals of enhancing financial inclusion and faster economic growth — will help significantly reduce the country ’ s carbon footprints. various reports have said that amid the pandemic, air, and water quality in various parts of the world has considerably improved. however, as economies start to recover whether the environmental improvements are sustainable remains questionable. the lesson from covid - 19 is loud and clear : the world needs urgent and drastic actions toward sustainability. the quest for economic progress should go hand in hand with the goal of environment protection. central banks are able to help achieve the desired change through regulations that encourage the financial sector to adopt sustainable practices. the bsp is up

. ” we are proud that as we take our first tentative steps in islamic finance we have a prestigious global name such as hsbc amanah to support us in our ambition to position mauritius as a jurisdiction of choice for world - class islamic financial services. it is an irony that we have driven conventional banking, western style, so far beyond its carrying capacity that we now have to delve back, for new solutions to the question of sustainability, into that quite different tradition of banking derived from the principles of the shariah. our approach to islamic banking / our challenges central banks, such as bank negara malaysia and the bank of england amongst others, have been important sources of inspiration for us. one has emerged as the islamic finance powerhouse of the world and the other is by far the most renowned conventional financial centre. the uk had a visionary leader in eddie george, central bank governor between 1993 - 2003. sadly, lord george left us recently. i had the pleasure of meeting him last october on a day trip to robben island laid on by south african governor tito mboweni and he spoke very fondly of his visit to mauritius. he was an easy conversationalist. it was precisely a conversation with his neighbours, a well - established professional couple, deploring the fact that they were unable to access mortgages in the united kingdom on the ground that they were based on riba, and thus not in accordance with the principles of their faith, that moved him to envisage islamic finance in the uk. this casual chit - chat between good neighbours has today resulted in a financial centre that harbours six authorised islamic financial institutions and another two dozen or so institutions offering islamic financial products as well as over twenty sukuks listed on the london stock exchange. meanwhile, driven by petrodollars and rising prosperity in the gulf and southeast asia, islamic finance has literally exploded. increasing demand for shariah - compliance augurs even better days ahead for the islamic finance industry as we prepare to enter the field. in these circumstances, how could we resist stealing a page from eddie george ’ s book? just like the british fsa did over 10 years back, we steered our thinking towards having a regulatory framework that accommodates both conventional and islamic financial institutions. we have also drawn guidance from the experience of other countries which have embarked on islamic finance but we have had to map out our own route. for instance, we have opted not to impose a single shariah on our