OCBC partners MVGX; aims to roll out new green financing solutions later this year
Wong Pei Ting
OCBC on Monday (Apr 25) announced its partnership with a Singapore-based carbon exchange as it aims to roll out new green financing solutions for large corporates looking to simplify their path to carbon neutrality later this year.
The partner, Metaverse Green Exchange (MVGX) – previously known as Cyberdyne Tech Exchange – is a digital green exchange regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
In a joint press statement, the companies said the financing solutions are devised as carbon credits have become particularly important for companies in hard-to-abate industries such as shipping, steel and energy. They will involve tokenised carbon credits issued by MVGX.
These tokens are supported by the exchange’s distributed ledger technology that can provide companies with a verifiable, immutable and constantly updated record of the carbon performance of the climate-action projects that they have invested in, they added.
This technology is meant to mitigate ongoing challenges that have caused many companies to hold back on buying carbon credits, such as double counting and complications with cross-border carbon trading, they noted.
With the partnership, OCBC’s head of global corporate banking Elaine Lam said the bank hopes to expand the reach of private-sector finance in areas and sectors “most crucial in mitigating climate change”.
As at end-2021, OCBC had extended over S$34 billion in sustainable finance. This surpasses its original target of S$25 billion by 2025. The bank has since set a new target of S$50 billion in sustainable financing commitments by 2050.
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