Sri Mulyani: The World Minister of Finance’s Policies Have Climate Change Implications

Armfalcon.com, JAKARTA — Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani at the 9th Ministerial Meeting of the Coalition of Ministers of Finance for Climate Action in Washington, United States of America, Saturday (15/4/202), assessed that the policies taken by world finance ministers would have implications significant in responding to climate change.

“This policy includes how to allocate resources, invest in innovation, as well as prepare for risks related to climate change,” said Sri Mulyani in an official statement, Wednesday (19/4/2023).

This, he said, is because the finance minister has a very crucial role in overcoming the challenges of climate change by establishing policies and making decisions that shape the economic landscape.

Therefore, the finance ministers in the coalition emphasized the importance of having a strategy to accelerate the achievement of the 1.5 degree Celsius target while maintaining the momentum of post-pandemic economic development, especially in low-income and developing countries. Considering these conditions, Finland, Indonesia, and the Secretariat of the Coalition chose to discuss matters concerning guidelines for strengthening the role of the finance minister in promoting climate change action and financial transition as an extension of the green transition program.

Sri Mulyani said the global problems being faced were the weakening of the economy in 2023 and the potential for not achieving the target of 1.5 degrees Celsius to limit the rate of global warming between 2030-2035. “In facing these two challenges, we must realize that climate and development are like two sides of a coin. If separating the two, it will only limit resources and hinder efforts to achieve the targets of the Paris Agreement,” he said.

He also said that during the period when Indonesia became the Chair of ASEAN 2023, Version 2 of The ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance (ATSF) was released in March 2023. ATSF Version 2 can accommodate the need for a more thorough assessment regarding “how and where” the contribution of the coal cessation program placed as a decarbonization effort in support of the Paris Agreement. In financial transitions, taxonomy alone is not enough.

“Certainly, preparing interoperable institutions and regulations such as reliable disclosure and reporting and verification bodies that are accepted globally, is necessary to develop transition finance that is of high integrity and highly credible,” he said.