Dominican Republic is first Caribbean country to launch green strategy

The country becomes the first in the Caribbean to launch the “Dominican Republic Green Taxonomy” project, which seeks to implement strategies that promote the growth of the sustainable capital market and contribute to climate change mitigation.

The green taxonomy will provide the country with classification tools to help investors and companies make informed, science-based investment decisions on sustainable environmental activities.

An agreement for the project’s development was signed by the Minister of the Environment, Orlando Jorge Mera; the Superintendent of the Securities Market, Gabriel Castro; and the Resident Representative of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in the Dominican Republic, Carolina Cárdenas.

Carolina Cárdenas, IFC Resident Representative for the Dominican Republic, stated that “IFC is honored to collaborate in the development of this green taxonomy for the Dominican Republic. We are confident that this unprecedented effort will translate into a growth of green capital mobilization in the country, as well as a demonstrative example for the Caribbean region.”

The institutions that signed the agreement have selected various sectors to promote green taxonomy in the country, such as energy, transportation, construction, information and communication technologies (ICT), industry, water, and waste.

This project will also provide clear definitions of activities or investments that incorporate national environmental objectives, such as addressing climate change or reducing deforestation.

In FY 2021, IFC committed a record USD31.5 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the capacity of the private sector.

Institutions
The Taxonomy Development has an inter-institutional Monitoring and Oversight Committee comprised of the Central Bank, the Ministries of Finance and Environment and Natural Resources, the Superintendencies of the Securities Market and Banks, and the National Council for Climate Change and Clean Development Mechanism, with support from IFC.