About this Discussion

The financial system can play a major role in contributing to a transition towards a low-carbon, resilient and inclusive economy. However, for this to happen, three key deficiencies must be addressed:  the misallocation of available capital for long-term development; externalities and systemic risk, including climate change; and environmental stress, notably natural disasters. Critical to aligning financial and capital markets will be measures within the financial system to green private finance through adjustments to key policies, regulations, standards and norms, and through market innovations.

In 2018, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) launched the GEF Aligning Finance Policies project to build international consensus to align financial systems with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and develop national regulatory actions. The project focuses on the development of national Sustainable Finance Roadmaps in six countries – China, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Mongolia and Nigeria – and building international consensus on best practices – from policies and regulations to standards and norms – to green the financial system.

This Green Forum discussion is for professionals to share their knowledge and experience on sustainable finance, particularly best practices to help align the financial system with sustainable development and climate change mitigation needs, as well as ways to incorporate sustainability factors into the rules that govern banking, insurance, institutional investment and capital markets.

 

Supported by

GEF Brand

Sustainable Finance

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Investors are obsessed with value — except when it comes to water

' The vast majority of companies — including those with immense water footprints in their operations and supply chains — have little or no sense of the very real risks of water scarcity, pollution, or flooding to their business interests. In the absence of clear ‘market signals’ — that is, a price that appropriately reflects these water risks — too many shareholders remain clueless.'

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https://wwf.medium.com/investors-are-obsessed-with-value-except-when-it-comes-to-water-6beefcfead65
Kenneth Kwok commented on Camille Andre's Post in Climate Change, Sustainable Finance, Green Recovery from COVID-19

Last Change to Register: Scaling-up efforts towards Paris alignment and supporting the SDGs in the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership

Wednesday 30 June I 11:00am CEST | #EUAfricaSDGs

This webinar - organized by the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), Green Finance Platform and the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) - will focus on the role of the Africa/EU Partnership in supporting integrated national financing frameworks.

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https://www.greenfinanceplatform.org/webinar/scaling-efforts-towards-paris-alignment-and-supporting-...

The G7 summit ended with rich nations reaffirming their goal to limit global heating to 1.5C, and agreeing to protect and restore 30% of the natural world by the end of this decade, but failing to provide the funds experts say will be needed to reach such goals.

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/13/g7-reaffirmed-goals-but-failed-to-provide-funds-needed...

One of the most overarching challenges of the pandemic has been public finance management. The pandemic and associated social restriction policies have lowered economic growth and the ability of Asian governments to finance social infrastructure. A greater quantity and diversity of financing is needed to improve the quality and inclusiveness of social infrastructure.

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https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2021/06/social-infrastructure-drive-sustainable-development-asia-b...
Green Growth Knowledge Partnership(GGKP)

This #GGKPwebinar features the launch of new research that calculates the global investment gap in nature needed to achieve related SDGs by 2030. A panel discussion with experts follows the presentation on the solutions for governments and the private sector to value the risks and identify opportunities for enhancing natural capital and building sustainable economic growth. Read More

??? NEW ANALYSIS ON NORDIC COMPANIES' OCEAN DISCLOSURE ???

✍️ 73% of Nordic companies do not disclose on oceans
? Just 22% of current ocean disclosure is classified as 'good'
? Half of companies directly operating in the ocean economy are disclosing

How can the financial community assess ocean impacts and dependencies of investments if the #bluedata is not being made available by companies?

We recommend:
✅ Greater investor engagement on ocean disclosure
✅ Companies to adopt common ocean disclosure frameworks and develop science-based impact reduction strategies

Read more of our analysis, by researchers at Copenhagen Business School ?

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https://greendigitalfinancealliance.org/ocean-disclosure-in-the-nordics/

Today, the non-profit think tank 2° Investing Initiative launched 1in1000, a research program to help financial institutions and supervisors address future risks and challenges. The program aims to integrate risks posed by climate change, ecosystem service & biodiversity loss, and the breakdown of social cohesion into financial processes and regulations. It will focus on developing long-term risk metrics, designing risk management tools & frameworks, and building capacity for financial institutions and supervisors.

1in1000 has a research budget of more than €1 million supported by the International Network for Sustainable Financial Policy Insights, Research and Exchange (INSPIRE), the German government, the ClimateWorks Foundation, and the European Commission, among others.

Find out more on our website and via the program's concept note, and feel free to send any questions to risk@2degrees-investing.org!

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http://1in1000.com/
pdf1in1000 Concept Note.pdf13.97 MB

"Climate risk is investment risk."

Activist hedge fund firm, Engine No. 1, claimed three board seats at ExxonMobil following their campaign pushing the company to shift focus away from fossil fuels. Their move was supported by the “Big Three” institutional investment firms BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street after successfully making the business case that climate risk is financial risk. The majority of the votes came from the pension funds, asset managers, and big institutional investors because they saw the business risk in the ExxonMobil's strategy.

Is this a turning point for the oil and gas companies?

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https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/engine-no-1s-victory-wake-up-call-for-exxonmobil-and-oth...
SADC Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency(SACREEE), International Renewable Energy Agency(IRENA), Energy and Environment Partnership Trust Fund(EEP Africa)

The SADC Renewable Energy Entrepreneurship Support Facility (SADC RE ESF) is supported by SACREEE and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and aims to support renewable energy market development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region through capacity building of… Read More

At a recent Green Swan conference, the world’s top central bankers agreed they had a clear role to play in tackling climate change. Climate stress tests may prove the most powerful tool to nudge the financial system. According to a recent climate stress test by the French central bank, insurers were far more affected than banks as the exercise suggested that extreme weather could quintuple the cost of related insurance claims by 2050. This will set the premiums to shoot up by 130-200%.

Other central banks around the world will also be conducting similar tests considered to be crucial in repricing the cost of capital between companies. Will climate stress tests be effective?

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https://www.ft.com/content/68ebd27a-232e-413a-95c8-3b3dd267daba