Exchange in Focus: National Stock Exchange of Costa Rica- International Release Green Award

16 September 2019

(September 2019) The National Stock Exchange of Costa Rica (BNV) received the “Green Award”, a recognition for outstanding use of renewable energy. The Stock Exchange is the first in Central America to receive this recognition, representing one more effort that Costa Rica makes to promote sustainable practices in companies. The recognition was extended to the companies located in the “Forum 1” business park, the first corporate complex to receive this distinction. This gives a strong signal to foreign industries seeking to establish themselves in business parks to promote the use of clean energy. In the awarding event, BNV presented the new alternative for project financing through Green Bonds. Rolando Castro, deputy minister of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, Marco Acuña, corporate director of Electricity of Grupo ICE and Víctor Solís, general manager of the CNFL presented to María Brenes, Director of Development and Corporate Relations of the Stock Exchange, the recognized award. “Through these bonds, companies had the opportunity to obtain resources to build environmentally friendly projects, and attracted the attention of worldwide investors who are increasingly interested in this type of investment. Costa Rica is a green country, which had stood out internationally for its commitment to the environment. It had great prominence in the Paris Agreement, through Mrs. Cristiana Figueres, and recently published its National Decarbonization Plan, these conditions make Costa Rica, a country with a lot of potential for attracting foreign direct investment,” said María Brenes, Director of Development and Corporate Relations at the Stock Exchange. “With these initiatives, the productive sector contributed to advances in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Rolando Castro, Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy, who congratulated the National Stock Exchange for promoting initiatives that mobilize resources for this end.

About the SSE

​The SSE initiative is a UN Partnership Programme organised by UNCTAD, the UN Global Compact, UNEP FI and the PRI. The SSE’s mission is to provide a global platform for exploring how exchanges, in collaboration with investors, companies (issuers), regulators, policymakers and relevant international organizations, can enhance performance on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) issues and encourage sustainable investment, including the financing of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The SSE seeks to achieve this mission through an integrated programme of conducting evidence-based policy analysis, facilitating a network and forum for multi-stakeholder consensus-building, and providing technical assistance and advisory services.