The 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) represents an ambitious and holistic commitment to set in place the structural conditions for the green economy and accelerate its growth as an integrated and fundamental component of the nation's economic and sustainable development.
Crucially, "[a] green financing mechanism will be put in place and innovative incentive schemes will be introduced to promote investment in green infrastructure, including energy, transport and housing".
Strategy B6 of Chapter 7 speaks of promoting green growth through a functioning and efficient green market and accelerating green initiatives by supporting the circular economy.
Chapter 8 — "Advancing Green Growth for Sustainability and Resilience" as part of Theme 3 (Advancing Sustainability) — is the centrepiece of the green economy agenda under the 12MP.
EMIR Research previously highlighted two financing methods under the public-private partnership framework — tax increment financing and social impact bonds (SIBs).
The deployment of SIBs as a funding source for the green and sustainable growth agenda should be explored.
SIBs, first pioneered in the United Kingdom, can just as well be designated as green impact bonds (GIBs) or green bonds (GBs).
SIBs have three parties or stakeholders — the state (public sector), the (private sector) investor, and the (private sector) provider.
Initial costs can be borne by the public sector directly or indirectly. And, the private sector (profit and not-for-profit, such as social enterprises) drive the design and delivery of the intended public projects.
Full payment will only be made once the key performance indicators — mutually agreed by all the parties or stakeholders — are met.
Directly, funds could come from the government, borrowing from or intermediating the investment funds from Bank Negara, or what would be a green investment bank, which could be modelled after the UK (the first of its kind in the world, now known as the Green Investment Group).
Our green investment bank would be owned by Bank Negara — with the Finance Ministry or the Environment and Water Ministry, or both, holding "golden shares".
The government raises funds by intermediating between investors and service providers (private sector and social enterprises).
Indirectly, government-linked companies (GLCs) and companies listed on Bursa Malaysia can provide funding as (private sector or corporate) investors — the government as the intermediary.
Special purpose vehicles or consortiums, such as those involving GLCs with (other) listed companies, could also be formed as an alternative.
In the instance of direct payments, the public sector will raise and intermediate the funds by issuing GIBs/GBs to Bank Negara or the green investment bank.
Here, the interest rate will be very low, i.e., below market rate. In turn, the payment will then earn interest and recycled back into the account(s) meant for (purchasing) GIBs/GBs.
Otherwise, the government can simply borrow at a very low interest rate from the green investment bank.
As for indirect payments, the process under direct payments can be extended to the GLCs and/or the listed companies which means that the public sector can issue GIBs/GBs to Bank Negara or the green investment bank to pay the GLCs and/or the listed companies.
Final payment could also take the form of share/equity ownership — of the service provider entities.
A dedicated GLC could be formed which could take part in future share/equity schemes, where earnings could then be rechannelled back as revenue.
In turn, the revenue derived could be recycled back into repaying Bank Negara or the green investment bank. Or otherwise providing the initial costs for other GIB/GB projects.
Our GIBs/GBs can be a template in the development of the wider green bond market as benchmarked by the Asean Green Bond Standards, Asean Social Bond Standards and Asean Sustainability Bond Standards — of which the Securities Commission is a player and contributor.
Other methods could be (re)configured in designing GIBs/GBs. Examples include peer-to-peer lending and funding societies — with the government as the intermediary. The Employees Provident Fund can also be a lead investor for GIBs/GBs.
The GIBs/GBs as proposed here are intended to complement and supplement the state's role and function in driving the green agenda as enabler and co-investor.
In conclusion, GIBs/GBs are consistent with 12MP's approach in intensifying "collaborative efforts and ensure complementarity of actions taken by stakeholders in addressing environment-related issues".
The writer is head of Social, Law and Human Rights at EMIR Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times