Building financial resilience to climate impacts in Vanuatu 

Inclusive green finance was top of the agenda when Noel Vari, Acting Governor of the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu, met AFI Executive Director, Dr Alfred Hannig, to assess Vanuatu’s financial inclusion progress. 

With Vanuatu at severe risk from floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and cyclones, AFI has supported the Reserve Bank to develop an Inclusive Green Finance Action Plan, which will help build resilience to climate impacts. 

“Vanuatu is a country vulnerable to natural disasters,” said Acting Governor Noel Vari. “Our current National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) ends this year, and we aim to address Inclusive Green Finance, amongst other important matters, in the next Strategy. It is our hope to gradually ensure the population of Vanuatu are financially resilient against climate change shocks.”   

AFI has provided a range of support to Vanuatu in recent years, including conducting a Demand Side Survey through AFI’s In-Country Implementation program, running capacity-building training for Reserve Bank staff on the use of Regulatory Sandboxes, and assisting to deliver an MSME Finance Feasibility Study. 

“The ongoing modernization of the National Payment System, as well as the development of a second NFIS, are just two examples of how the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu is effectively promoting financial inclusion,” said Dr Hannig. “I’d like to reiterate AFI’s commitment to supporting our Vanuatuan friends on their work in developing policies and regulations which leave no one behind.”