The Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG), through the Green Finance Centre (GFC), together with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, concluded a capacity building workshop in Port Moresby that aims to address industry understanding of Papua New Guinea’s Inclusive Green Finance Taxonomy, ahead of the Green Finance Summit 2026.
The workshop to exchange knowledge marked an important step in strengthening industry understanding of BPNG’s Standards for Green Loan Classification and Reporting, aligned with Papua New Guinea’s Inclusive Green Finance Taxonomy, as well as the Environmental and Social Risk Management (ESRM) Guidelines.
By strengthening the policy, supervisory, and implementation foundations for sustainable finance, BPNG through the GFC, and in partnership with IFC and other financial institutions, is helping to pave the way for more responsible lending practices, improved risk management, and stronger long-term sustainable development outcomes in Papua New Guinea; including the creation of more jobs.
“These workshops are a significant milestone for the Bank of Papua New Guinea, bringing together financial institutions, regulators, and technical experts to strengthen understanding of BPNG’s standards on green lending and the environmental and social risks associated with lending activities. Through these engagements, we are not only sharing knowledge and international best practices but also advancing a collective call to action towards greening Papua New Guinea’s financial system. The initiatives discussed will support financial institutions in translating policy guidance into practical operational measures,” Governor Elizabeth Genia said.
Together, these efforts reflect the growing momentum to align Papua New Guinea’s financial sector with international good practices and strengthen the effective understanding and implementation of Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMS) across the financial industry.
“IFC is pleased to support the Bank of Papua New Guinea in developing its Environmental and Social Risk Management Guideline, an important milestone in strengthening sustainable finance practices in the country,” IFC E&S Sustainability Manager for East Asia and the Pacific, Deniz Baharoglu said.
“This achievement reflects BPNG’s strong leadership and valued partnership with IFC. Going forward, continued capacity building for financial institutions will be critical to translate regulatory guidance into practical risk management and financing decisions that support sustainable private sector development that is key to creating jobs across various sectors in the country,” he said.
“Since joining the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN) in April 2024, the Bank of Papua New Guinea has made meaningful progress in building the foundations for sustainable finance. In just over a year, BPNG has developed the Green Finance Taxonomy version 2, and now the Supervisory Standard for Green Asset Classification and Reporting with the support of SBFN in coordination with IFC. SBFN looks forward to supporting BPNG as it moves into implementation and to sharing these early lessons with peers across the network,” said Rong Zhang, Global Coordinator, Sustainable Banking and Finance Network.
The first half of the workshop brought together representatives from the central banks of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, and Tonga who reflected on interoperability and regional application of Standards and ESRM Guidelines while the second half of the day was tailored to support the effective implementation of the frameworks by financial institutions, aligned with international best practices.