‘Only One Earth’, the theme for the 2022 World Environment Day, championed by the United Nations Environment Programme, rings true as a constant reminder of our duty to ensure the preservation of our environment through sustainable environmental practices, as climate change remains an existential threat to humanity.
As a sustainability-focused financial market infrastructure (FMI) group, FMDQ Group PLC (“FMDQ Group”) joins the global community to commemorate the 2022 World Environment Day by restating its commitment to the preservation of the environment.
FMDQ Group’s strong commitment to the preservation of the environment is firmly entrenched in its Sustainability Agenda, which has the ‘Environment’ as one of its five (5) Sustainability Pillars and is hinged on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy, Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production, and Goal 13 – Climate Action.
Furthermore, FMDQ Group in recognition of the need for Nigeria to continuously stay at the forefront of the global sustainable finance drive, and acknowledgment of the potential of Nigerian financial markets to provide the requisite funding for climate-resilient investments has taken the lead in championing sustainable finance initiatives.
Notable amongst these initiatives include the launch and successful implementation of the Nigerian Green Bond Market Development Programme (NGBDP), with Financial Sector Deepening Africa, to accelerate the development of green bonds as a tool for Nigeria to broaden investments in green projects and assets.
Now in its 5th year, the NGBDP has successfully impacted over 928 financial market stakeholders through over 34 capacity building meetings and supported the issuance of four (4) Corporate Green Bonds and two (2) Sovereign Green Bonds with a total value of ₦58.51 billion.
The NGBDP also recently launched an Impact Report on its activities and how it has supported the use of green bonds in financing low carbon infrastructure in Nigeria.
FMDQ Group also facilitated the establishment of and serves as the Secretariat to the Financial Centre for Sustainability (FC4S), Lagos, the 23rd member of the International Network of Financial Centres (FC4S Network) headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, whose sole aim is to accelerate the expansion of green and sustainable finance in Nigeria as well as promote the adoption of the UN 2030 SDGs.
In a bid to close the gap created by the absence of a dedicated platform for the listing of green and sustainable securities, FMDQ Group, through its wholly owned subsidiary, FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited, launched the premier Green Exchange in Africa – FMDQ Green Exchange.
FMDQ Green Exchange is a virtual information repository platform dedicated to driving the growth of green and sustainable securities and providing reliable green data in the Nigerian financial markets – through promoting transparency, good governance, and compliance – by showcasing securities issuances that align with global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles.
FMDQ Group’s recent admittance as an Observer Member of the ICMA Green Bond Principles is also pivotal to FMDQ Green Exchange’s ability to provide issuers the assurance of its compliance with globally acceptable standards.
Nigeria, in response to being listed among the top ten (10) most vulnerable countries to climate change globally, has, through its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), as stated in the NDC Interim Report, pledged a 20% reduction of emissions below business as usual and a further 45% reduction conditional on receiving financial support, capacity building and technology transfer.
Globally, financial markets are assuming a more significant role in the drive to curb the impact of climate change through advocacy and increased investment in sustainability-linked financial instruments, such as green and blue bonds, as the long-term financial benefits of integrating ESG principles in investments far outweigh any immediate cost.
FMDQ Group remains focused on implementing more sustainable-focused initiatives in support of the actualisation of Nigeria’s ambitious NDC commitment and is commemorating the 2022 World Environment Day with the launch of its recycling initiative – FMDQ Triple R Initiative – in support of a circular economy.
FMDQ Group is also providing support to the Lagos State Government on the issuance of its maiden blue bond with proceeds aimed at tackling some of the issues with Lagos waterways and address attendant environmental challenges.
FMDQ Group is Africa’s first vertically integrated financial market infrastructure (FMI) group, strategically positioned to provide registration, listing, quotation and noting services; integrated trading, clearing & central counterparty, settlement, and risk management for financial market transactions; depository of securities, as well as data and information services, across the debt capital, foreign exchange, derivatives and equity markets, through its wholly owned subsidiaries – FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited, FMDQ Clear Limited, FMDQ Depository Limited and FMDQ Private Markets Limited.
