Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has advised the banking sector to always ensure that potential beneficiaries of their loans place high premium on environmental protection.
Emefiele gave the advice yesterday at an event to mark the 2021 World Environment Day.
According to him, “Lending practices must take into consideration our environment, to be sure that sustainable banking principles are taken into account when banks are lending money.” This year’s world environment day is themed ‘Ecosystem Restoration’.
The CBN governor, with his deputies, planted trees as a symbol of promoting green environment in Nigeria at the event.
He maintained that sustainable banking principles should be taken into account when banks are lending money, and urged that banks should specifically check to guide against projects with threats to green environment in approving loans to applicants.
Emefiele further said that the event reminds everyone of the need to ensure that the nation’s ecosystem remains green.
“We need to make sure we remove everything that is creating pollution in our environment and I am sure we all know about the need globally to go green, which means that we must keep our ecosystem alive so that everything remains green.”
He disclosed that some international financial institutions and development finance institutions across the world are beginning to turn down loan requests if they find anything that pollutes the environment.
“We must join not only as bankers, we must join as Nigerians and members of the global community to ensure that our environment remains green to keep the oxygen flowing well in our lives so that we can all live well and avoid pollutants that destroy our lives and environment,” he urged.
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