AFC sustainability efforts recognised for the 3rd time in a row
View(s):Alliance Finance Company PLC has been internationally recognised for the third consecutive time since 2018, this time at the Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance Awards held recently in Germany for “its genuine commitment and contributions towards sustainable value creation”.
Deputy Chairman and MD Romani de Silva received the award from the Karlsruhe Lord Mayor Dr. Frank Mentrup and Arshad Rab - CEO of the European Organisation for Sustainable Development.
The Certificate of Merit was awarded for the Outstanding Sustainability Achievement by successfully integrating Sustainability in the Corporate Strategy and Business Processes, the company said in a media release.
Mr. de Silva, dedicating the award to the entire AFC team thanked the committed Alliance team for displaying outstanding consistency of purpose for sustainability even during a difficult year.
In 2018 AFC received a merit award in the category of Sustainability Leader of the year, recognising the contribution of Mr. de Silva’s visionary leadership in driving the sustainability mandate of the company and with genuine passion and commitment.
In the same year AFC also had the privilege of being accepted into the Sustainability Standards and Certification Initiative (SSCI); a global sustainability standard that will be developed for banking and finance institutions promoted by the European Organisation for Sustainable Development (EOSD) and supported by the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) as well as the Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI).
“Becoming one of the three companies of the world that has been accepted, AFC will now serve as a member of this pioneering initiative and help draft the first global standard for Sustainable Financing. Selection to the prestigious initiative was done on evaluation of AFC’s business practices that have contributed towards sustainable value creation over the last several years. AFC is the only financial institution in the South Asian region to be accepted into the SSCI,” the release said.
AFC’s sustainability mandate is aimed at generating environmental and social values that will contribute towards achieving national and global sustainability priorities. In 2017, AFC became the first financial institution in Sri Lanka’s Non-Bank Finance Institutions (NBFI) sector to commit to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement on Climate Change by signing the Karlsruhe resolution in July 2017.
There have been many initiatives planned in line with these priorities to ensure maximum contribution.