Tunis: A memorandum of understanding to enhance commitment on financing sustainable development and resilience to climate change in Tunisia was signed Tuesday by the Banking and Financial Council (CBF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The agreement is intended to provide an environment conducive to the mobilisation of funds needed to secure the effective implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in Tunisia, the CBF said. The aim is also to encourage financial innovation and support development and the operationalisation of new funding tools and mechanisms to promote sustainable development. "The promotion of sustainable practices will help significantly attain national SDGs," the council further said. Under this partnership, the CBF undertakes to play a key role to secure the true commitment of all actors in sustainable finance. The UNDP will contribute to creating an environment conducive to sustainable debelopment and fin ance by means of supporting the development of innovative financial instruments tools and helping financial institutions align their practices with SDGs, further reads a press release. Sustainability is a core objective of this partnership through pooled efforts to promote governance of sustainable finance. These efforts find expression in beefed-up capacities of different players in related areas and advocacy interventions aimed to help the banking and financial sector align with the requirements and challenges of of sustainable development. This partnership was initiated in 2022 with training sessions on climate challenges and carbon neutrality targeting executives in the banking industry and representatives of financial institutions in Tunisia. An instructional guide.on the integration of climate risks in the portfolios of financial institutions was a further step in 2023. This guide - the fruit of joint efforts by the Ministry of Environnement, the National Energy Command Agency (ANME), the CBF and the UNDP, contributes to speeding up energy transition by clarifying action required to put in place a structure dedicated to climate finance and facilitating the identification of climate risks in their project portefolios, notably through a capacity-building programme, further reads the press release. CBF President Néji Ghandri said at a signing ceremony the move will help strengthen the capacity to mobilise funding for sustainable projects. "By spotlighting sustainable finance, we can play a key role in transforming the economy. This is attainable by means of aligning financial pratices with SDGs and supporting climate commitments," he said. " For the UNDP, the involvement of the banking sector and financial institutions in efforts to finance sustainable development and secure resilence to climate change is essential here as elsewhere," Ghandri also highlighted. Céline Moyroud, UNDP Resident Representative, said the organisation seeks to support banking institutions and the banking sector in channeling inv estments towards low-carbon solutions and fostering a scaled-u public-private partnership that serves climate objectives and transition towards a green and sustainable economy. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse