Costa Rica’s first green fund seeks to be an example for sustainable projects By EFE

San José, Jan 20 (EFE).- The first green investment fund in Costa Rica seeks to become an example for promoting sustainable projects that contribute to the country’s environmental goals, its creators reported Thursday.

This is the first thematic investment fund in Costa Rica for 15 million dollars placed by the BN Valores Stock Exchange of the National Bank (public).

Green Funds and Green Bonds are real options to promote energy efficiency projects, clean transportation, renewable energy, natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, among others.

The general director of the National Stock Exchange of Costa Rica, César Restrepo, said that this type of initiative demonstrates the success of these options with a view to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

“In this case it is a Green Fund called the BN I Fund aimed at financing the construction of a data center on land owned by the National Bank. We are facing a clear example that the market believes in this type of instrument, as was demonstrated by the demand that was 2.2 times the amount of the offer”, Restrepo indicated.

He added that this fund “is important because it opens the doors for other companies, trusts and projects to seek this type of financing in the future.”

The general manager of BN Valores, Melvin Garita, considers that the market sent a strong signal of support for this type of initiative.

“We were looking to place 15,000 shares of the BN I Fund at a price of 1,000 dollars, for a total fundraising of 15 million dollars. However, we received offers for 33,023 participations, that is, for just over 33 million dollars”, Garita pointed out.

On October 29, 2021, the “Law to promote financing and investment for sustainable development, through the use of thematic public offering securities” entered into force, which was promoted by the National Stock Exchange with the purpose of supporting compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The legislation facilitates the financing, through the capital market, of activities, works and projects that seek to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals framed in the National Decarbonization Plan, the National Policy for Adaptation to Climate Change, the National Policy for Production and Consumption Sustainable, and any other public policy instrument in that direction.

The projects that are financed through this system will be supervised by independent experts to guarantee that they generate a positive impact on the country’s goals, explained the National Stock Exchange.