Supporting the Reserve Bank of Fiji to increase sustainable finance in Fiji

As a small island state with an economy in development and reliant upon tourism and the primary sector, Fiji is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Given its high exposure, the Government of Fiji has been proactive in developing climate policies to mitigate climate change, and adapt to and address its impacts, while ensuring inclusive economic development.

The mobilization of finance is a key for the implementation of Fiji’s ambitious policy programme. To this end, Fiji has developed a series of financing strategies for its climate and environmental policies and implemented a number of measures aimed at increasing the mobilisation of sustainable finance and decreasing the financial sector’s exposure to climate-related financial risks. For example, in 2017 Fiji was the first developing country to issue a green bond and in 2022 it developed a Sustainable Development Bond Framework. Likewise, it is presently preparing on guidelines for disclosure of both ESG-related and climate-related financial risk and developing a sustainable finance taxonomy.

To better align these efforts, the RBF made a request for support to the NDC Partnership Action Fund to prepare a sustainable finance roadmap. The purpose of this roadmap will be to provide relevant actors within Fiji’s financial ecosystem with an overview of the actions that need to be taken to transform the country’s financial system into one that supports its climate and environmental policy goals while continuing to promote sustainable and inclusive economic development.

While the primary deliverable of this project is the preparation, validation, and launch of the sustainable finance roadmap, the project will also undertake workshops and training events to build the capacity of actors in Fiji’s financial ecosystem to be able to implement and adhere to the measures contained within the sustainable finance roadmap.

 This work is funded by the NDC Partnership Action Fund, a funding mechanism for countries to have greater access to technical and financial resources to respond to climate action needs.  

Since 2023, UNEP and the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre have supported developing countries in fast-tracking their NDC implementation and bridging gaps in support with funding from the NDC Partnership Action Fund.