CABEI and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) promote the establishment of Frameworks for the issuance of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Bonds in Costa Rica's local market
CABEI supports its member countries in the adoption of best practices to enhance the supply of sustainable assets and contribute to the development of local capital markets
Costa Rica, May 31, 2023.- The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), in coordination with the Costa Rican National Stock Exchange (BNV for its acronym in Spanish), developed a "Support Program for ESG Emissions Thematic Frameworks" in harmony with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations.
The objective of the Program is to increase the awareness of issuers, investors, stakeholders and key market players about the strategic role that ESG investments play in positively impacting economic, social and environmental aspects in Central American countries, starting in Costa Rica. These efforts to promote the issuance of sustainable bonds in the Costa Rican capital market are aligned with the government's climate change mitigation agenda and the National Decarbonization Plan.
The Program is possible thanks to the financial contribution of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and in this first stage of implementation, the three (3) recurrent issuers that applied through the Costa Rican National Stock Exchange were: Banco de Costa Rica (BCR), Banco Popular (BP) and the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE). Based on the results obtained, the AFD and CABEI are planning a second phase in other countries, thus promoting the regional standardization of criteria for the issuance of sustainable bonds under the principles of the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA).
