Armswissbank: Results of the review of regulatory framework for advancing “Green Finance” in Armenia presented to stakeholders

On January 10, 2022, at the Best Western Congress Hotel, Armswissbank – the Delivery Partner of “Scaling up green finance practices in the Republic of Armenia” Programme – organized a workshop to present the results of the third phase of the programme funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The results of the international good practice analysis in the sustainable finance area and the proposed recommendations for advancing green finance practices in Armenia were presented. The third phase of the Program was implemented by PwC Armenia and PwC Switzerland.

The workshop was attended by over 60 programme beneficiaries, including representatives from the RA Ministry of Environment, RA Ministry of Economy, the Central Bank of RA, RA commercial banks, non-banking financial institutions and private sector.

During the workshop the representatives of PwC Armenia and PwC Switzerland presented the results of analysis of the local legislation governing financial sector and the proposed recommendations towards introduction of an enabling legal framework for advancing green finance practices in Armenia.  The speakers also highlighted the need for additional activities, including the proper regulatory impact assessment (RIA) and cost-benefit assessment.  In addition, corresponding infrastructure should be developed, for example, data points for sustainability data, in parallel to legislative drafting.

The “Scaling up green finance practices in the Republic of Armenia” programme has been launched since 2020 with the key objective to conduct a comprehensive study of obstacles hindering the further development of the “green” financing sector in the Republic of Armenia, to raise the level of awareness, and to introduce an advanced methodology. Armswissbank is the Delivery Partner of the Programme of the GCF.