SUVA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A conference on Green Financial Inclusion started on Monday in Nadi, Fiji's third largest city, with the participants from various parts of the world.
The two-day conference, Smart Policies for Green Financial Inclusion: Securing development gains and building resilience, was organized by the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI).
RBF Governor Ariff Ali said at the conference that one of the programs introduced by Fiji was the establishment of the RBF Natural Disaster Rehabilitation Facility to assist businesses and households affected by tropical cyclones, floods and natural disasters.
He said that a pioneering initiative undertaken was the introduction of a bundled micro insurance product for Fiji's sugarcane farmers, which has now been extended to dairy and rice farmers, and Fijian civil servants.
Some 90 participants from AFI member institutions including central banks, and other financial sector regulators from emerging and developing countries took part in the international conference. Participants also included experts from relevant government authorities, private sector participants, academia, and international organizations such as Innovations for Poverty Action and Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organization (MiCRO).
The conference is an important milestone following the Sharm El Sheikh Accord on Financial Inclusion, Climate Change and Green Finance adopted by the Alliance during the 2017 Global Policy Forum (GPF) in Egypt.
AFI members that have been pioneers in implementing the Sharm El Sheikh Accord, include the Reserve Bank of Fiji.
With Fiji currently presiding over the 23rd Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Chiange (COP23) and leading advocacy in the region and globally, the conference will also focus on the role of green financial inclusion in the wider global context of climate action.
