Jakarta, 5 June 2022 -- Strategic steps of PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero,) Tbk. or BNI (stock code: BBNI) in supporting the transition of fossil energy to green energy has received appreciation from many parties. The increasing number of green projects is actually predicted to be able to improve the performance of banking industry players including BNI in carrying out their intermediation function.
Director General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EREEC) of Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dadan Kusdiana appreciates banking parties including BNI who have been aggressive in carrying out green financing.
Moreover, until March 2022, one of the pioneers of green banking has disbursed green financing to various segments reaching Rp 170.5 trillion. This is part of the Company's efforts to promote environmental protection.
"Financial institutions including banking have started to respond regarding the paradigm shift from fossil to green energy. That is very good, in line with the energy transition process," he said.
According to Dadan, various parties are trying to find a breakthrough so that the current energy transition can run faster. However, it is considered not cheap, because there are additional costs. For example, to accelerate the retirement of coal power plants.
"These costs are not new, but due there is an increasing demand for energy due to economic growth," he explained.
Other Banks Need to Emulate
On a separate occasion, Research Director of the Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Piter Abdullah said, the incessant green financing by banks must of course be appreciated.
According to him, this increase is not only due to the will of banks, in this case BNI, but also due to the increasing number and size of green projects being developed in Indonesia.
"It can be interpreted that the promotions and incentives carried out by the government and also the financial authority, namely OJK, to increase green projects are quite successful," he said.
He also said that what BNI had done was correct. All banks, he said, are expected to be able to channel green financing.
"Because so far the obstacle is not with the bank, but rather because the demand for financing is low because green projects are still limited," explained Piter.
As is known, BNI is very serious about strengthening its business towards compliance with joint and global efforts to protect the environment.
Expansion to Green Segment
Considerations for compliance with regulatory provisions, as well as efforts to protect the environment, as well as internal regulations without forgetting the business considerations have made BNI survive and at the same time continue to make quality expansions to date.
"As a pioneer of green banking, we continue to look for opportunities to expand the green segment while proactively inviting customers and investors to be more interested in developing this sustainable economic segment," said BNI Corporate Secretary Mucharom.
Sejak Januari hingga Maret 2022 cukup agresif mengucurkan pembiayaan hijau ke berbagai segmen. Hal This can be seen from BNI's green portfolio (Bank only) as of March 2022 which reached Rp 170.5 trillion, growing 21.8% on an annual basis (year on year/yoy).
Mucharom explained that the green portfolio value is equivalent to 28.9% of the Company's total loan portfolio. Of this amount, the majority are Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) loans..
“Our green portfolio is quite expansive, earlier this year the growth was 21.8%. The support is mostly from MSME loans and this is because the mentoring program carried out by BNI has a positive impact on the community ecosystem," he said.
He detailed that financing for MSMEs and socio-economic empowerment had the largest portion, reaching Rp 115.2 trillion. Then, management of living natural resources and sustainable land use of Rp. 14.9 trillion, financing to the New Renewable Energy (EBT) sector of Rp. 10.3 trillion.
"Next, we also have financing exposure for pollution prevention of IDpR 6.8 trillion, and other green financing of Rp 23.3 trillion," he said..
In addition to aggressively disbursing green financing, BNI also applies the principles of environmental, social and corporate governance (Environmental Social Governance/ESG) in the Company's operations which is embodied in a green corporate culture.
Where BNI obtained Green Building Certification from The Green Building Council Indonesia (GBCI) with Gold Certification for BNI Tower and Platinum Certification for Plaza BNI.
"The positive performance of green financing, supported by high social and environmental concerns, as well as superior corporate governance practices, has encouraged BNI's ESG rating to increase from MSCI to A since November 2021," he said.(*)