The Brief: Rastra Raj Bhandari on Nepal’s Green Financing Future

[00:00:03] - [Speaker 0]
Namaste and welcome to Pods by PI, a policy discussion series brought to you by Policy Entrepreneurs Inc. My name is Saurabh Lama. In today's episode, we have my conversation with Rashtraj Bandari on Nepal's Green Financing Future. Rashra is a young professional working on carbon pricing, climate finance, and low carbon policy initiatives in Asia and The Pacific. He has worked with a number of international development organizations including the ADB, UNDP, UNCDF, and the World Bank.

[00:00:32] - [Speaker 0]
Rastra is also a contributing author for The Nepali Times and the recipient of the Harvard SIC Global Trailblazer Award. Rastra has a BA in Economics from New York Abu Dhabi and NMA in China Studies, Economics and Management from Peking University. In this episode, we talk about Rashtra's latest report titled A Background Policy Paper on Green Financing in Nepal and take an analytical look at Nepal's green financing future and what green financing looks for a developing country like Nepal. We discussed the best way for Nepal to navigate green financing and the various roles, regulatory agencies and banks and financial institutions, private and public entities can play in Nepal's green financing strategy. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

[00:01:19] - [Speaker 0]
So, Rasha, welcome to Podsby PEI.

[00:01:22] - [Speaker 1]
Thank you so much for having me.

[00:01:23] - [Speaker 0]
I'm excited to have you on the show. Shall we get started?

[00:01:26] - [Speaker 1]
Yes, please.

[00:01:28] - [Speaker 0]
We're here today to have a conversation on your latest paper with UNDP Nepal titled a background policy paper on green financing in Nepal, which gives a fascinating insight on green financing in Nepal. So to start with, I'm sure our listeners would love to know what is green financing, and most importantly, how does it differ from traditional methods of financing?

[00:01:50] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. No. Thanks for the question. And this is really a very, very good question to start the podcast with. And I think it's something that'll go on through the podcast as well in terms of how do you really define green finance.

[00:02:00] - [Speaker 1]
Right? And it's not a very direct answer, so let me start from that. But to basically start from understanding this concept, I think it's important to understand that traditional finance solely focuses on financial return and risk. Right? So within that landscape, the landscape of sustainable finance and green finance has emerged where sustainable finance basically considers financial, social, and environmental returns in combination.

[00:02:25] - [Speaker 1]
Within sustainable finance, which also looks at environmental, social, and economic, you've got a subcategorization where green finance comes in. Right? So green finance basically is whatever you perceive it to be green, and it's essentially the idea that you want to increase financial flows either from banking, microcredit, insurance, and investments from all public, private, and not for profit sectors to the green sectors. Now within green finance, there's a layer of other terminologies. One which is very, very well out there in the media narrative is climate finance.

[00:02:59] - [Speaker 1]
And so within green finance, you've got climate finance, which covers a lot of mitigation as well as climate adaptation, but it doesn't cover what you'd see as biodiversity. Right? So climate finance wouldn't cover biodiversity as much. So green finance basically covers climate as well as biodiversity and other green bits. Within climate finance, then you've got mitigation, you've got adaptation finance, and you also talk about loss and damage.

[00:03:22] - [Speaker 1]
So essentially, it's a very convoluted concept in terms of there's layers and layers that you need to unpack. But essentially, the core concept is you look at systematically how do you align financial flows to give environmental benefits.

[00:03:36] - [Speaker 0]
Now that we have established the differences between green and traditional financing, what was the rationale for this study? Why is green financing relevant for a country like Nepal?

[00:03:47] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. So the rationale for this study, I think, it's essentially twofold. First, there's a massive infrastructure as well as investment gap in Nepal. Right? And and I think this is well known in terms of not just in Nepal, but globally as well as in Asia Pacific.

[00:04:03] - [Speaker 1]
There's a need for infrastructure and investments. According to a recent analysis by ADB, developing Asia alone needs around $1,700,000,000,000 of infrastructure investments annually between 2016 and 2030. Right? So that's a massive gap that we're talking about. Now within this narrative of trying to fulfill this infrastructure gap, we also need to tackle climate change.

[00:04:25] - [Speaker 1]
So on one hand, we're going to have a lot of investments and finance flowing in. On the other hand, we're talking about reducing emissions, which doesn't really make sense. Right? Because they're they can be counterintuitive. So the entire idea around the rationale for green financing is how do you make sure that a lot of these investments coming in are going to be green and don't harm the environment?

[00:04:44] - [Speaker 1]
And this is a big need for Nepal as well as a developing country. We need a lot of investments, not just in climate adaptation and climate loss and damage, but also in terms of infrastructure and a lot of roads, a lot of buildings, lot of this and that. So essentially, the overall narrative and the overall rationale for this study really comes from the fact that we want to move forward with investments, but we wanna do it in a green and sustainable way. On another level of this answer really comes from the fact that in 2019, UNDP Nepal, they put forth this subcommittee on green financing in Nepal, it comprises of a lot of banks and financial institutions, a lot of different stakeholders involved in the financial community in Nepal, including the Central Bank, for example. And the idea behind this committee is to look into how do you sort of rationalize this concept of green finance and contextualize it in the context of Nepal.

[00:05:36] - [Speaker 1]
Right? And that's one of the big things is you hear this concept in other countries and other places. But what does that mean for Nepal where predominantly a large share of investments are already green, quote unquote. Right? Like, when you talk about the grid, it's a lot of hydro.

[00:05:50] - [Speaker 1]
And what does that mean compared to other regions or other countries where the grid is not as clean? So, you know, the the idea behind this was really trying to understand and contextualize what green finance means for Nepal and what's the way forward.

[00:06:04] - [Speaker 0]
So moving the conversation forward, could you please tell our listeners some of the key green financing initiatives in Nepal?

[00:06:12] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. And this is this is really the crux of the report as well. Right? So when we started off this project and I was commissioned to be the lead author for this report, one of the big challenges was there's nothing written on this. Right?

[00:06:27] - [Speaker 1]
And there's so many things that's happening. So how do you wrap your head around bringing all these diverse set of communities and stakeholders and representing them in a in a manner that makes sense? And this is a very tough question to answer, but my attempt and then the the way I've done it in the report as well, I classify it in two different ways. First is it's very regulatory driven. So Nepal Central Bank, for example, is part of the sustainable banking network, and their reports sort of classify that a lot of progress in green finance in Nepal has been regulatory driven.

[00:06:58] - [Speaker 1]
Right? And which makes a lot of sense, and I know we'll get into this in a bit later as well, but the central banks launched what is called the ESRM guidelines for environmental social risk management. The recent monetary policy in Nepal talks about a bit of green finance as well. So the central bank in Nepal has done a really, really good job in terms of making sure that the regulations as well as the enabling policy environment is ready to sort of look into green financing. The second bit, which is equally important, and I don't want to undermine, but is increasingly, increasingly doing more, is the market driven approach.

[00:07:33] - [Speaker 1]
So along the regulatory driven approach, and there's a strong push from the market side as well. And these are not exclusive. In fact, they reinforce each other. But I think one of the big findings of this report was also to to understand and to witness such a good momentum within the market. So some of the examples include commercial banks.

[00:07:52] - [Speaker 1]
Right? So banks like NMB Bank, for example, they're doing amazing work. They've got sustainability plans. They've got climate reporting. They recently disclosed their climate portfolio as well as, you know, like, they're doing some really good work.

[00:08:08] - [Speaker 1]
You also have private equity firms and VC firms doing a lot of good work in terms of climate finance and green finance in Nepal. Within and under that layer, you also have stakeholders that you normally don't think of in finance, such as medias. Like, Nepali Times, for example, is one of the best repositories for anything to do with climate change in Nepal. Right? And then within that layer, you also have some universities, like King's College, for example.

[00:08:33] - [Speaker 1]
They're really trying to instill the understanding on green finance within the students. So I don't know if that answers the question, but I think the bottom line is there's this regulatory driven push. There's also this market driven push, and also a lot of different stakeholders are trying to rationalize what green finance means to them and how do you sort of wrap your head around what

[00:08:53] - [Speaker 0]
your

[00:08:53] - [Speaker 1]
own institution can do. Right? So I think that's a very broad answer in terms of there's loads happening from different levels. And overall, there's a good momentum in greening our financial system moving forward.

[00:09:03] - [Speaker 0]
I wanna quickly touch on the ESRM that you mentioned earlier. Would this be the Nepal Rastra Bank's environmental and social risk management guidelines? Yes. Could you briefly talk about the scope of this policy adoption? Also, what results can be expected with its implementation?

[00:09:22] - [Speaker 0]
Does this aim to bring about a change in how financing is done, or does it bring about a change in financing priorities, or is it both?

[00:09:31] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. No. That's that's a great question, and I think I'm gonna see this all the time today. So the ESRM guidelines, right, the core objective of the guidelines is to require BFI's banks and financial institutions to integrate environmental and social risk management into their overall credit risk management process. And that really sort of informs the credit authority of environmental social risks prior to the financing decision regarding individual transactions.

[00:09:54] - [Speaker 1]
Right? So I think that sort of answers to your last question is it does both. But in layman terms and really trying to understand what it's trying to do is like and before you do that, you need to understand that BFIs and banks and financial institutions face different types of credit risks. Right? And beyond credit risk, they also face legal risks, operational risks, as well as reputational risks.

[00:10:17] - [Speaker 1]
And if they don't consider environmental social risks within this, all these different risks can come and sort of, you know, like, bite them at the end of the day. One example that I can give when it comes to credit risks is that if a BFI is providing a loan somewhere and the production side becomes contaminated, then the market value of the underlying collateral may decrease. Right? So if a bank and financial institution doesn't wrap their head around this and doesn't understand the scope of the risks they're facing, then that eventually is a credit risk for them down the road. So the ESRM guideline essentially tries to make this relatable and relevant for BFIs.

[00:10:55] - [Speaker 1]
And the scope I mean, yeah, maybe I can sort of, like, go into the scope in a bit more detail. But it the the the guideline itself, it defines its scope of accubility to various terms of financing. So it includes SME finance, commercial leasing, business working capital finance, term finance, as well as project finance. It requires all BFIs engaging in types of the transactions I just mentioned above to develop and implement an environment and social management system. They call it ESMS, and that needs to be consistent with both local environmental and social laws and regulation, and over time, be recognized with international standards.

[00:11:32] - [Speaker 1]
And this is really interesting, and it gets into the standard conversation of, yeah, you can create a system, but what standard does it follow? And the ideal standards to follow is the IFCs, for example, performance standards or something called the equator principles, which really are the benchmark standards. Right? And then one of the good things about the ESRM guidelines is also that incorporates ESR risk management tools and templates, and that really enables, you know, nontechnical staff within commercial institutions in Nepal to facilitate the management of e n s e n s risks. And, yeah, and finally, it also sort of, you know, describes the necessary organizational roles and responsibilities built on the principles of integrating e s E and S risk management into the banks and the financial institutions overall credit policy.

[00:12:18] - [Speaker 1]
So I know that was a lot to sort of, like, decode and decipher, but overall, it's it's this massive idea that really tries to capture and help BFIs, you know, like, get into and understand their environmental social risks and and capture that. And sorry, I'm talking a bit too much now, but one thing that I do wanna loop into this is the fact that the pushback from a lot of banks and financial communities is if you are only doing it within yourself as a voluntary initiative, then there's perverse incentive to do so because your competitor bank is not capturing E and S risk. So when a regulator comes in and puts it forward and requires all BFIs to do it, then you're essentially putting everyone in a competitive playing field. So that's one of the really good things about a regulatory driven approach in putting a standard fare framework for all BFIs to follow.

[00:13:13] - [Speaker 0]
So just to follow-up on the regulatory agencies and the banks and financial institutions that you mentioned, what might be the roles that these regulatory agencies, BFIs, private and public entities play in Nepal's green financing strategy?

[00:13:29] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. So, look, I I think I think that's that's one of the big things. Right? And it's also one of the findings of the report is you're having this regulatory driven approach and a market driven approach, and there needs to be someone who is going to reconcile what's happening and make sure they're in synergy as opposed to conflict. And and I've been in rooms with both the central bank as well as representatives from the BFIs and some of their concerns and, you know, like the concerns from the central bank sometimes are in conflict.

[00:13:58] - [Speaker 1]
So the ideal answer to that is really, you know, like consultative approach in designing a green finance strategy, and that's one of the things that's going to happen moving forward is and be based on this report is creating a road map on what green finance actually means and what's the end goal for us, and what role do banks and financial institutions play within that sphere. Right? As you know, like Nepal, with everything else, it's a very regulatory driven. So private sector don't have that leeway to, you know, like, just go out and do things. So I anticipate a lot of regulatory driven approach to green finance, but even within the private sector, right, like, the early movers and the first movers will have a massive advantage because climate and the green space is not a charity case anymore.

[00:14:43] - [Speaker 1]
It's a massive risk. It's a massive financial issue. Right? So the sooner you move, the the early advantage you're gonna get.

[00:14:51] - [Speaker 0]
So indeed, it does feel that Nepal is on the right track towards mainstreaming green financing strategies. But this is a tie up into what you said earlier as well. A bulk of financing in Nepal is already happening on green infrastructures and green initiatives, specifically on hydroelectricity and solar energy generation and solar energy. So what kind of new opportunities would mainstreaming green financing open for Nepal? Would it create new sources of investment funds for Nepal?

[00:15:25] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. No. That that's that's essentially what we're trying to wrap up or wrap our head around in the report as well is what does green mean in the context of Nepal. Right? And let me reiterate the fact that there's no universal understanding on what green means.

[00:15:41] - [Speaker 1]
And because of that, there are varying taxonomies that try to define what green means. So you've got a taxonomy from the European Union. You've got a taxonomy in China, for example. And I was part of the I was a contributing author to the UNDP taxonomy for sustainable finance in China as well when I was working in Beijing. And then you've got different independent standards, right, that also sort of put on taxonomies.

[00:16:05] - [Speaker 1]
So a good example is the Climate Bonds Initiative. They've got something called a green bond taxonomy, and that really defines what are the sectors that can be included in green. And until very recently, large hydropowers were not considered green. So on one hand, as Nepal thinks about green, we can think about large hydro being green. But also on the other hand, we need to acknowledge that not all standards think of hydro as green.

[00:16:29] - [Speaker 1]
Right? So I'm I'm just gonna leave that there in terms of food for thought. But but the idea is, like, we need a good understanding on what green means, and that's something that the central banks recently announced in their new monetary policy just couple of weeks ago or a month ago is to create a taxonomy on what green means. Right? So that's the context.

[00:16:50] - [Speaker 1]
Having said that, I think you're right. Nepal is very green to begin with. Our carbon footprint is not very high in global terms. On a comparative terms compared to developed countries, Our carbon budget, for example, the same thing, as well as the historic emissions we've had is negligible compared to what developed countries have had. Having said that, the climate crisis is real and tangible, and we don't have time for blame gaming and sort of like saying, well, you guys coasted.

[00:17:22] - [Speaker 1]
And I and I think that's needed very much so, but then it's also high time that we look into our own portfolio and understand what's green and not. And one example that I can give on this is really coming from the NMB Bank's carbon footprint accounting that was released earlier this year. And it's very interesting to understand their emissions portfolio and stuff. And according to their data, the two major sectors where their portfolio has the biggest emissions, if you can guess, construction materials, first, and second is agriculture. So that's very interesting as well in terms of it goes back to the conversation around investments and infrastructure.

[00:18:01] - [Speaker 1]
Right? A lot of lending and construction as well as agriculture has massive carbon footprints. Agriculture in particular is very interesting because the central bank has a mandate. Its agriculture is a priority lending sector. So banks, I think they have to sort of allocate around 12% to 15% of credit into that sector regardless.

[00:18:20] - [Speaker 1]
So how do you wrap your head around a requirement into a particular sector that has a massive carbon footprint? Right? And then on top of that, if I may confuse the listeners even more, there's a question on how do you even calculate the carbon footprint in the first place and what standards do you use on that. So, you know, I think it is true that our economy as well as our financial system is more or less green compared to elsewhere. However, having said that, there are sectors like construction, there are sectors like agriculture where we can do much more when it comes to greening the entire value chain of how our economy is built.

[00:18:55] - [Speaker 1]
And the other thing that I really, really wanna touch, and there's something I'm very, very passionate about, is energy with oil and gas and imports and energy dependency on these things, especially for the transport sector, which has a massive, massive risk, especially given the oil prices going up. And people think it's a temporary thing. And, yeah, well, for sure, there's gonna be a dip. But eventually down the road, like, I think there's a universal contentious on what's gonna happen with oil and gas.

[00:19:22] - [Speaker 0]
So while indeed all of these infrastructural developments in Nepal is green or whether we have avenues to further make it greener, there is the age old question of capital. Domestic capital mobilization in Nepal has been insufficient to meet the financial needs across most sectors, and we have historically relied on foreign capital either in the form of aid or public and private investments. Given that this reliance is most likely to continue into a foreseeable future, how are we to look at foreign capital investments, especially from countries that themselves have highly invested in green financing, but but are increasingly criticized for their fairly lenient approach towards environmental, social, and governance norms in their overseas investments?

[00:20:16] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. That's a big question to unpack. I'll try to answer that in in a couple of layers, and hopefully, that clarifies or provides some insights. The first, I agree, it's not been sufficient. However, I think that also cannot be looked at as a scapegoat for thinking domestic resource mobilization is not a solution.

[00:20:39] - [Speaker 1]
Right? I think the first thing that I want to highlight is domestic resource mobilization needs to be more efficient and effective, and it needs to go to the right sectors. And that's a really, really critical thing. And something that I'm working on a lot these days is on taxation policies and trading systems. And a lot of countries, for example, now have a carbon tax.

[00:20:57] - [Speaker 1]
Nepal has a massive fuel tax and import tax on vehicles. How do you invest and how do you mobilize that money and where does the money go? And well, on one hand, what scholars and what practitioners suggest is if you're taxing fossil fuel and you're generating revenue out of that, you really want to invest that in green projects. So you're sort of like, you know, like advancing the green sector, and that's the primary agenda. Right?

[00:21:22] - [Speaker 1]
But more or less in developing Asia in itself, domestic resource mobilization is very weak and inefficient. So I think while foreign capital is very important, it is very, very important to think about DRM and wrap our head around how do we make it more effective and efficient and channel that revenue and the right resources. The second layer is you're spot on when you say we need to focus on foreign capital. And that's also we touch upon quite a lot in this report. And just like a bit of an insider information, there's if I may use the word, green bonds are very sexy these days.

[00:21:57] - [Speaker 1]
Right? So everyone's talking about bonds. Everyone's talking about green bonds. You go to all these investor conferences. Everyone's talking about green bonds.

[00:22:03] - [Speaker 1]
The issuances have reached a trillion dollars or a $100,000,000,000. Sorry. I can't remember the figure. But and that's the narrative that is sort of, like, seeped into Nepal as well. So everyone's home by green bonds here.

[00:22:16] - [Speaker 1]
Whereas in the context of Nepal where we've never issued a bond in the foreign market, is it feasible? Right? And one of the findings of the report is, at least in the short term, green loans are going to play a much, much bigger role than green bonds, for example, just because our capital market is very shallow. Having said that, I think there's a lot of room where we can actually make the enabling environment for foreign investments in Nepal much more attractive and much more easy and lenient. And I think that's an area where a lot of people are working on right now.

[00:22:48] - [Speaker 1]
And let me also highlight that this is not unique to green financing or investments in the green sector. This is common for investments in Nepal in general. Right? So things like credit risk exposure, credit risk information, like things like having good solid pipeline of projects to invest in. Right?

[00:23:08] - [Speaker 1]
So we're talking about and I think this is a very common narrative is we need to raise money. But what's the pipeline of projects we have where we can invest our money? Right? And that's something nobody talks about. And I think that's not a unique case in Nepal itself.

[00:23:22] - [Speaker 1]
Right? Like and this is something I I scream on the top of my lungs is there is money. We just need to create a pipeline of bankable projects, bankable green projects where we can invest that money. And this is an area that needs a lot of reform and rethinking because we don't have the time to channel financing into climate mitigation projects alone. And then ten years down the road, realizing, oh, like, we've got adaptation.

[00:23:46] - [Speaker 1]
So then trying to channel financing into adaptation, and that's going to be, like, well, mostly grant based because adaptation projects are hard to be bankable. And then ten years down the road thinking, we also need to think about loss and damage financing. Right? So essentially, my thinking here is, well, you need to commingle all of these and try to create, like, a solid pipeline of bankable projects where you can use those projects to sort of, like, lure in investments and capital. And that needs to come from multiple layers.

[00:24:12] - [Speaker 1]
That needs to come from municipalities. In Southeast Asia, you're increasingly seeing municipal bonds being issued, and you're directly attracting financing there. It needs to happen from the level of the prime minister. Like, infrastructure projects need to be green infrastructure projects. The investment board needs to work on that.

[00:24:28] - [Speaker 1]
They need to create a pipeline. Right? And there's a lot of talk around under climate change, countries have submitted what you call the nationally determined contributions or NDCs to the Paris Agreement. And now there's a lot of work being done on translating NDCs into a roadmap and into a pipeline of projects. So I think this entire thing about attracting foreign capital, there's a lot of talk about, oh, how do we bring in more money?

[00:24:52] - [Speaker 1]
But I think there also needs to be a parallel conversation on where do you take that money towards. And I think that needs to be in sync for anything to happen. Right? Like, it's supply and demand.

[00:25:04] - [Speaker 0]
So, Rashra, now we're coming towards the end of our conversation. So I'll ask quickly, what are your top two policy recommendations for institutionalizing green financing in Nepal? And, relatedly, what challenges do you see in implementing them?

[00:25:18] - [Speaker 1]
Yep. Look. I I think, again, I'll answer it in two layers. I I love using this way of answering. I don't know it makes sense.

[00:25:25] - [Speaker 1]
But two policy recommendations, one actually has been put into the monetary policy recently is defining a green taxonomy. I think that's super important in terms of categorizing what we mean by green, and I think that really gives confidence as well as that's the right market signal on what type of projects and what type of pipeline we can eventually look into. And one of one of the things, and hopefully I will be involved in this, is ensuring that it's robust enough to abide by local environmental standards as well as Nepal's commitments to the Paris Agreement as well as a net zero announcement that they've made as well as international standards. Right? And this is a very, very tricky thing because, for example, China's green finance taxonomy until very recently considered clean coal as green.

[00:26:11] - [Speaker 1]
Right? The European Union's taxonomy includes natural gas as green. Right? So you really need to sort of wrap your head around what green means, and I think that'd be my first recommendation. The challenges with implementing that, I think, really is going to be a strategic fundamental concern that will come from our pipeline.

[00:26:31] - [Speaker 1]
And what I mean by this is there is there is a thinking within the country, and I'm generalizing here, of course, but there's a thinking and an understanding on what green means. Right? So I think one of the big challenges will be letting go of that thinking and trying to sort of think from a fresh perspective on what green means for the global community, what green means for investors, what green means for the financial community. And I think this is something where we need to learn to let go of our biases and understand what is the sift the global community is having towards. And I think this is and I know as a policy practitioner, maybe you think this is

[00:27:11] - [Speaker 0]
a very

[00:27:11] - [Speaker 1]
vague challenge to implement, right? But I think a lot of these policies are driven by biases. And I think and I and I think that's going to be a major hurdle that Nepal needs to tackle when they're defining a green taxonomy. That's the first thing. The second policy recommendation that really, you know, I feel very, very passionately about and still a bit vague and subjective is to identify low hanging fruits.

[00:27:34] - [Speaker 1]
And this is something I emphasize a lot on the report is it's not about, you know, like, rechanging the financial system tomorrow. Right? It's about identifying what are the small steps you can do to be on the right direction. And once you're in the right direction and the momentum kicks in, then there's no turning back. Right?

[00:27:55] - [Speaker 1]
Then the market sort of will take you So my recommendation is identifying the low hanging fruits. And in the report as well, I've said and I've categorized for different stakeholders. So one of the least hanging fruits, which I say is, for example, for insurance companies in Nepal, they'll have a big role to play when it comes to climate finance, green finance. They need to join investment insurance networks globally that are working together on how insurance companies can be and can play a better role in green finance. Right?

[00:28:24] - [Speaker 1]
So understanding and being part of these networks will really help you understand what others are doing and where you fit in. And it's a massive platform for information sharing and knowledge transfer. And if you look at, like, a good example, the Central Bank, for example, is part of sustainable banking network, which, you know, has really helped the Central Bank understand what other countries are doing and implement that in Nepal. So I think identifying low hanging fruits will be will be very, very important. The challenge with implementing that, I think, is the the motivation or I I don't know how you call it, but the lack of knowledge on what those low hanging fruits would be.

[00:29:00] - [Speaker 1]
Right? And I think that's something that really relates to the capacity we have in within the financial community in Nepal on green finance and climate finance. And I think the capacity and the necessary knowledge will be a bit of a barrier when it comes to motivating or incentivizing institutions, not from a regulatory approach, but more from a voluntary approach of how do they sort of look into green finance.

[00:29:23] - [Speaker 0]
And lastly, where might our listeners get to read your report? Is there anything you'd like to tell our listeners about?

[00:29:30] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Well, so if you go to Google and type out the report's name, background policy study on green financing in Nepal, UNDP Nepal. So it's on the website of UNDP. And it's actually very funny because contrary to what you might imagine, there's not a lot of reports on green financing. There's a tiny bit of conversation on climate financing, but not a huge amount of rich on green financing that also captures things like biodiversity and stuff.

[00:29:59] - [Speaker 1]
Right? So, yeah, you can it's it's publicly available. You can go there, read it, you can always reach out to me if you want to debate or sort of, like, have recommendations on this. And I think that really sort of is a good segue to my parting messages as well. I've been an environmental activist from a very young age, and one of the big decisions for me was to understand what are the best skills that I can be equipped with that would help me to find a right place through which I can tackle and try to help combat the climate crisis.

[00:30:31] - [Speaker 1]
And funnily enough, finance emerged as one of those key areas because, you know, like, when I was at college, I have a undergrad in theoretical economics and a master's in economics and management. And I really sort of understood early on. So I was an intern at Baker McKenzie in Sydney where I was looking into sustainable finance and law. I realized how small the finance community was back in 2015 that looked into climate finance and sustainable finance compared to the environment activists and everyone there or environmental scientists. Right?

[00:31:03] - [Speaker 1]
So I think my key message would be to at least look at climate finance or finance as one of the tools through which we can combat the climate crisis. And I think once you sort of get your head into what's happening in terms of the money that's flowing in into, like, your traditional finance and fossil fuel versus climate and all of the shift that's happening in the financial community, I think it is a very exciting and impactful career that that, you know, might as well be your next career move. So I think rather than saying, oh, let's solve climate crisis together and stuff, I think my recommendation would be, yeah, I really try to look into finance as a tool to tackle the climate crisis.

[00:31:42] - [Speaker 0]
So that brings us to the conclusion for this episode. Thank you very much, Rashtra, for your time with us. Very much appreciated. I wish you all the very best for your future endeavors.

[00:31:51] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me, and, yeah, look forward to continuing this collaboration with you.

[00:31:56] - [Speaker 0]
That brings us to the end of the episode. Thank you very much for listening. Goodbye. Thanks for listening to Pulse by PI. I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Rashra on Nepal's green financing future, where we took an analytical look at Nepal's green financing initiatives and what green financing looks for a developing country like Nepal.

[00:32:17] - [Speaker 0]
We also discussed the various roles regulatory agencies and banks and financial institutions, private and public entities can play in Nepal's green financing strategy. Today's episode is part of The Brief. It was produced by Neshun Rai with support from Aparna Podial, Kushi Hang, and the Boju Boju duo, Itishakiri and Rikutti Rai. The episode was recorded at Catchas studio. Our theme music is courtesy of Sanjay Sreshta from nineteen seventy four eighty.

[00:32:44] - [Speaker 0]
Technical support for this episode was provided by Abhishek Boon. If you like today's episode, please subscribe to our podcast. Also, please do us a favor by sharing us on social media and leave a review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. To catch the latest from us on Nepal's policy and politics, please follow us on Twitter at tweet two p e I. That's tweet followed by the number two n p e I and on Facebook policy entrepreneurs inc.

[00:33:14] - [Speaker 0]
You can also visit pei.center to learn more about us. Thanks once again from me, Saurabhlama. We'll see you soon in our next episode.