Expert Opinion on Innovation: C-suite Advisor Vira Tolkach on Unlocking Billions Through Green Bonds and Finance Technolog

Like many impactful movements, the story of accounting and finance transformation and the raise of green bonds began with visionary efforts by individuals, organizations, and governments determined to make a positive environmental impact.

Green bonds emerged as a financial tool designed to support projects with environmental benefits. Their evolution marked a shift from a traditional fundraising model to a catalyst for sustainable transformation in the financial markets. In 2008, the World Bank issued the first green bond in response to interest from Swedish pension funds seeking climate-responsible investment options. This initiative introduced a framework to identify and measure the environmental outcomes of investments, setting the foundation for what qualifies as a green bond.

Vira Tolkach was a pioneer in creating the first-ever methodology for green bond verification in Eurozone. As the author of the methodology Vira Tolkach recalls:

“I started focusing on green finance over a decade ago, when it was still a niche concept. There were no established rules back then – basically, we had to define what “green” meant for bond proceeds and how to verify that rigorously. I led a project to build a verification methodology from scratch. The goal was to build trust: investors needed assurance that their money was truly funding sustainable projects, not being greenwashed. It was challenging – we had to persuade skeptics and collaborate with regulators and experts to get it right – but that framework ended up paving the way for others. Now, it’s amazing to see how far the market has come.

Back then, I saw a huge investment opportunity that the industry needed in order to be able to raise capital for ESG products, such products fueling energy-efficient real estate, optimized manufacturing, and fossil fuels. This could be achieved by issuing a ‘green bond’. And clearly the Eurozone had an opportunity to raise green bonds for many of its ESG products. The ESG sector, at that time, in 2015 was struggling to receive capital. Under My leadership, I led a team to discuss how we take care of the problem, and I initiated this project process to launch the green bond verification. The biggest problem was: how do you keep the factors — the key parameters — for the valuation of the bond? Under my leadership, I was able to find one of the biggest solutions for the ESG sector in Europe by providing valuation parameters for the green bond. This required intense leadership and deep subject-matter understanding. And that framework was essentially used across the sector for years to come.” — Vira Tolkach. Vira Tolkach is a global leader and advisor to the C-suite on all topics in new technology and innovation applications in accounting and finance.

Alongside green bonds, she has successfully applied robotics, BluePrism to create a ‘robot’ to streamline accounting and financial processes for all sectors. This approach unlocks huge value to the organization.

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