| Morning session: 09.00 AM – 11.05 AM (EDT) | ||
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| 09:00 EDT | Chair’s Welcome Remarks Mark Barton, Forum Chair | |
| 09:05 EDT | Welcome Address by UNEP-FI
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| 09:15 EDT | Headline Partners Opening Remarks
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| 09:25 EDT | Sustainable Investment Spotlight
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| 09:35 EDT | Panel Discussion Can a more multilateral approach in US foreign policy under Biden result in increased foreign investment and accelerate the drive for a green and inclusive recovery globally? Can an upsurge in ESG investing play an integral role in recovery and resilience planning? Federal and State policies are accelerating the ongoing US low carbon energy transition which has increased in momentum with the election of President Biden. Financial innovation is driving meaningful change in many investment sectors while social innovation and culture development also continue to evolve. With energy costs curves seen as changing for the long term, levelling the playing field for lower carbon energy production, and interest in having a positive impact with investment dollars from millennials on the rise, a top-down, bottom-up race is under way which has created an important new dynamic. Accelerating these trends further can help make the US a leader on both designing and enabling sustainable financial systems as the world moves into the post pandemic recovery phase.
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| 10:20 EDT | Climate Leader Insight
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| 10:40 EDT | Climate Leader Insight Can Short Selling Help Investors Drive Decarbonization? Why short selling can be an effective tool for investors seeking to effect ESG-positive change in their portfolios How short selling can complement active ownership on the long side of a portfolio The benefits of incorporating short selling for investors that are looking to hedge climate risks and/or lower their carbon footprints How the carbon exposure of an investor’s short positions should be accounted for when calculating the carbon footprint of their overall portfolio The challenges that lay ahead for asset managers and asset owners seeking to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint Moderator:
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| 11:00 EDT | Chair’s key takeaways | |
| 11:05 EDT | Close of Morning Session | |
| Afternoon session: 12.00 PM – 1.45 PM (EDT) | ||
| 12:00 EDT | Chair’s Welcome Remarks Mark Barton, Forum Chair | |
| 12:05 EDT | Sustainable Investment Spotlight Will the 2020’s be a decisive decade in terms of meeting the objectives of the UN SDGs? The SDG financing gap has been particularly severe for emerging markets, already climate vulnerable and hit hard by the pandemic- what needs to be done to ensure stable capital flows?
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| 12:15 EDT | Climate Leader Insight Betting on Electric: The business case for why companies should invest in EVs and EV infrastructure The coming revolution in mobility is a golden opportunity for companies to invest in electric vehicles and EV infrastructure. Learn how to participate in this transformative new economy and why it makes sense from an environmental, societal, and economic perspective. In the age of ESG investing, this session will demonstrate how companies ranging from those with vehicle fleets to those with large customer and employee bases can elevate their ESG profiles by investing in EV infrastructure—and even turn a profit while doing it.
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| 12:35 EDT | UNEP FI Panel Discussion Achieving net-zero across investment, insurance, and banking What will a 2050 decarbonised global economy look like and what does Net Zero mean in practice? Update on the work of the UN –convened Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance and the UN supported Banking and Insurer’s Alliance
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| 1:20 EDT | Climate Leader Insight Financing sustainability: helping businesses transition from brown to green
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| 1:40 EDT | Live Interview Introducing the 2021 CARE (Centre for Accounting Research & Education) Accounting for Sustainability and Responsible Investing Conference
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| 1:50 EDT | Chair’s Key Takeaways | |
| 1:55 EDT | Close of Part 1 – Live Broadcast Ends | |
| Morning session: 09.00 AM – 10.55 AM (EDT) | ||
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| 09:00 EDT | Chair’s Welcome Remarks Mark Barton, Forum Chair | |
| 09:05 EDT | Opening Remarks Unleashing the EV Market: Turning the climate crisis into an investment opportunity with EV charging To avoid a catastrophic warming of the planet, scientists and experts agree that humanity must bring about a net-zero economy by mid-century. One of the chief challenges will be to transform the transportation sector from one driven by fossil fuels to one powered by electricity. In his keynote address, EVBox Group’s Chief Growth Officer Hugo Pereira shows how this crisis can lead to a historic investment opportunity in electric vehicles and in the electric vehicle infrastructure that will charge those cars and trucks.
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| 09:15 EDT | Sustainable Investment Spotlight How are financial markets driving the energy transition?
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| 09:25 EDT | Climate Leader Insight The democratisation of data- empowering choice and ESG decision making
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| 09:45 EDT | Panel Debate Understanding ESG ratings and performance: translating corporate performance and governance in sustainability into financial performance- as more investors choose ESG over traditional indexes with the differences between being an ESG ‘winner’ or ‘ loser’ become more meaningful? In light of the COVID -19 pandemic the focus on sustainability and ethical issues has continued to sharpen. The evolution of ESG measurement ESG performance is a growing consideration in company valuations. In a business environment where sustainability and ethical impact are central to survival, businesses can use ESG criteria to assess their non-financial performance. No single gold standard exists for ESG ratings, which are reliant on the robustness of the data used, and vary in consistency creating significant challenges for investors when trying to evaluate a business by its ESG credentials. While the concept of an ESG profile is both valued and broadly understood by many organisations, the ability to link it to tangible outcomes is often lacking, undermining its full potential. This is largely due to inconsistencies in measuring it, and lack of a single, recognised methodology.
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| 10:30 EDT | Climate Leader Insight Defining and measuring climate impact – what does good look like?
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| 10:50 EDT | Chair’s Key Takeaways | |
| 10:55 EDT | Close of Morning Session | |
| Afternoon session: 12.00 PM – 1.55 PM (EDT) | ||
| 12:00 EDT | Chair’s Welcome Remarks Mark Barton, Forum Chair | |
| 12:05 EDT | Climate Leader Insight How movement capitalism can save the planet Moderator:
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| 12:25 EDT | Virtual Panel Debate Benefits and shortcomings of forward scenario risk analysis- a holistic approach to strategy and impact assessment? How can forward scenario analysis aid the development of effective financial regulatory frameworks to allow for the management and mitigation of climate risk?
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| 1:10 EDT | Asset Owners Fireside Chat How ready are European and North American asset owners for the green energy transition- how to future proof investment portfolios to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 Speakers:
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| 1:30 EDT | Climate Leader Insight CIO Perspective: Augmenting the Human Element of ESG Investing with AI/ML and Big Data Efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels is an example of the intensifying ESG challenges facing global investors. As they seek to generate value and protect capital, they are increasingly incorporating ESG factors to identify top performing investments while managing uncertainty, such as climate risk. Can artificial intelligence and machine learning enhance investors’ abilities to identify more plentiful investment opportunities and to manage hard-to-measure risks more prudently? Are there limitations or disadvantages to integrating AI/ML and is Big Data producing a signal or generating noise? Will advanced analytical techniques augment or overwhelm the human element? Hear perspectives from two investment leaders, Oggie Sosa, CAIA, FRM, Chief Investment Officer at Breckinridge Capital Advisors and Lauren Sercu, CFA, Managing Director and Head of Impact Investing at Sepio Capital. Speakers:
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| 1:50 EDT | Chair’s Key Takeaways | |
| 1:55 EDT | Close of Part 2– Live Broadcast Ends | |
| Morning session: 09.00 AM – 10.45 AM (EDT) | ||
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| 09:00 EDT | Chair’s Welcome Remarks Mark Barton, Forum Chair | |
| 09:05 EDT | Sustainable Investment Spotlight Measuring and improving corporate ESG performance The last 12 months have seen a plethora of announcements on how companies and investors can report their ESG performance. The EU has developed a new taxonomy. The SASB has now merged with the IIRC. Countries are beginning to mandate TCFD reporting. All these institutions are promoting a new International Sustainability Standards Board, with plans to announce a new institution before the COP26 talks in November.
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| 09:15 EDT | Climate Leader Insight ESG framework ratings for green, social, sustainable, and sustainability-linked debt instruments
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| 09:35 EST | UNEP FI Panel Debate Aligning portfolios with biodiversity goals- presenting new opportunities for portfolio alignment with a global biodiversity framework. The natural world underpins our economies, with more than 44 trillion USD of economic value generation, half the world’s GDP, moderately or highly dependent on this critical asset. Nature is central to supply chains and raw materials, supporting the businesses we finance, invest in and insure – and yet it is increasingly under threat. With international biodiversity frameworks being drawn up in 2021, and key developments such as ENCORE’s Biodiversity Module, as well as the Task Force on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) coming online, the race to halt and reverse biodiversity loss has begun. This session will explore how North American investors can move from the case for investing in nature to meeting the conservation finance gap at scale. This shift presents many business opportunities for regional investors, with the support of blended finance and strategic public investments in accelerating nature finance. Moderator:
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| 10:20 EDT | Climate Leader Insight Climate Risk, Net-Zero and Opportunities for Investors With the drive towards net-zero, some incumbent companies and existing sectors will wither; whilst new technologies, business models and industry sectors will emerge, creating economic opportunities for well-positioned companies during the transition to a more sustainable economy.
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| 10:40 EDT | Climate Leader Insight Redefining Banking and Financing the Clean Energy Transition Speakers:
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| 11:00 EDT | Chair’s Key Takeaways | |
| 11:05 EDT | Close of Morning Session | |
| Afternoon session: 12.00 PM – 2.25 PM (EDT) | ||
| 12:00 EDT | Chair’s Welcome Remarks Mark Barton, Forum Chair | |
| 12:05 EDT | Climate Leader Insight Net Zero Infrastructure – A practical roadmap
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| 12:25 EDT | Panel Debate Sustainable Infrastructure Investing – how infrastructure investors are contributing to SDG outcomes: engaging the private sector in a green recovery- are investors in private infrastructure assets better able to meet climate targets and achieve risk return objectives?
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| 1:20 EDT | Sustainable Investment Spotlight How to mobilise private capital for the green transition – a European asset owner perspective Speaker:
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| 1:25 EDT | UNEP FI Panel Debate Achieving a 50% emission cut by 2030. What is a politically viable plan for the US? The Biden administration’s NDC commitment is a high ambition target that has the potential to catalyse a significant and positive transformation of the US economy and financial system. Yet, achieving this target will require robust and durable policy mechanisms. This panel will assess the main mechanisms (clean energy standard, carbon-pricing), their importance, limitations, as well as their future prospects. Moderator:
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| 2:15 EDT | Summary round up of Accounting for Sustainability and Responsible Investing Conference Part 1 with:
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| 2:20 EDT | Chair’s Key Takeaways | |
| 2:25 EDT | Close of Part 3 – Live Broadcast Ends | |
| Morning session: 09.00 AM – 10.55 AM (EDT) | ||
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| 09:00 EDT | Chair’s Welcome Remarks Mark Barton, Forum Chair | |
| 09:05 EDT | Sustainable Investment Spotlight Transforming finance for a sustainable, global economy- will capital market funding complement bank lending in sustainable financing in the aftermath of COVID-19? Financial markets need to expand access to capital markets to assist the transition to a low carbon global economy. Developing and expanding capital markets through transition bond frameworks and creating a global taxonomy for transition finance. Speaker:
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| 09:15 EDT | Climate Leader Insight Risk Thinking in a radically uncertain world – how to measure and manage climate financial risk Speaker:
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| 09:35 EDT | Panel Debate Financial reporting alignment with the G-20 backed Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) and the benefits of robust climate risk stress testing- will the US Fed department lead the way in the region with a strong climate mandate? Are there any political barriers which may impede the roll out? There has been significant work towards developing a common international corporate reporting standard for sustainability disclosures, building on the TCFD’s recommendations and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Businesses across the North American region face significant risks from climate change, both in terms of increasing physical threats from storms, droughts, and rising sea levels, but also transition risks arising from stricter carbon mitigation policies. Improving climate disclosures enables investors to better allocate capital and enhances corporate focus on the risks – and opportunities – climate change will bring about. Conversely, failure to meet investor demands can threaten a company’s ability to raise finance while leaving it vulnerable to physical climate threats, slow to capitalise on opportunities, and potentially exposed to punitive action from regulators. The advent of the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) has provided a unifying framework to identify, manage, and detail those risks and opportunities around which other disclosure benchmarks are coalescing. Climate policy is politically contentious and congressional approval may be a difficult route- financial regulators such as the SEC has been ramping up its involvement in climate risk concurrently with the Federal Reserve.
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| 10:20 EDT | Climate Leader Insight Emerging markets – the role of bond investors in supporting the transition to greener and more sustainable economies.
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| 10:40 EDT | Sustainable Investment Spotlight The importance of ESG in infrastructure debt Speaker:
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| 10:50 EDT | Chair’s key takeaways | |
| 10:55 EDT | Close of Morning Session | |
| Afternoon session: 12.00 PM – 1.40 PM (EDT) | ||
| 12:00 EDT | Chair’s Welcome Remarks Mark Barton, Forum Chair | |
| 12:05 EDT | Climate Leader Insight Translating climate science into informed investment decisions
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| 12:25 EDT | Panel Debate The role of Fintech in the transition towards a low carbon global economy—is accessing the right data the catalyst for sustainable investing at scale? Climate is a global problem and requires global solutions- a consolidated approach multi-layered with the right governance measures for AI is required to ensure equitable access to new tech. Examining how tech is aiding sustainable finance innovation and driving the global economic change. Tech lies at the heart of the attempts to prevent global warming, to increase energy efficiency, reduce consumption and expand renewables. Tech is not a panacea but must work in tandem with human judgement amplifying the effectiveness of ESG which with allow financial institutions to improve investors sustainable investment portfolios advising clients to align with SDGs. Accessibility to all is necessary to drive real change – whilst AI and ML are being embraced by greater numbers of institutions and governments and accelerating exponential growth in certain sectors of the global economy others may be left behind.
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| 1:10 EDT | Climate Leader Insight Accelerating to Zero: the Road Ahead
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| 1:30 EDT | Headline Partners Forum Closing Remarks
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| 1:35 EDT | Chair’s Key Takeaways | |
| 1:40 EDT | Close of Sustainable Investment North America Virtual Forum 2021 – Live Broadcast Ends | |