Examining levels of collaboration and engagement across regions and assets to turn net zero ambitions into action

• What collaborative efforts and tools are needed for effective capital deployment in decarbonisation?
• Will creating decarbonisation cultures drive systemic change and innovation in organisations?
• How should net-zero targets and timelines be defined for capital allocation, investment, and risk management?
• Are asset owners and managers working together effectively on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) communication and transparency?
• What sectoral data and best practices are missing for corporate transition plans?
• How can net-zero targets support client transitions, green technology financing, and early retirement of high-emitting assets?
• How do supportive government policies and proactive company decarbonisation influence the net-zero transition efforts of banks?
• How are scope 3 emissions from supply chains and asset portfolios managed by financial institutions in the US and Canada?

Financial institutions can reduce financed emissions through portfolio engagement and divestment from high emitting industries. Strategies should align with a +1.5°C warming limit, balancing a “just transition” with short-term returns. A blended approach—divesting and decarbonising portfolio companies—can minimize climate impact and financial risk. This session will explore aligning investment strategies with innovative technologies to mitigate climate change and reduce exposure to increased risks like fires, flooding, and drought.

• Multifaceted net zero strategies: How can financial institutions decarbonise their portfolios through engagement and collaboration for a just transition?
• Decarbonising energy portfolios: How can investors innovate and collaborate to facilitate a clean and
just energy market?
• Shifting capital allocation: How can institutions manage the externalities of transitioning capital towards
low-emitting companies, especially in energy and utilities?
• Engaging high emitters: What are the best practices for actively engaging high-emitting companies to
promote long-term, greener business models and drive policy changes for net zero transition?

• Decarbonisation- examining how an investor’s decisions to decarbonise a portfolio is not always based on purely financial objectives
• Are investors motivated by a desire to invest in companies that are making positive impact by not contributing to climate change and environmental damage?
• Aligning decarbonising and investment strategies with new technologies
• Given that carbon emissions are spread across entire economies and require major structural changes how can investors ensure that engagement take places not just at company but at country level as well?
• From transition finance to risky mitigation and adaptation techniques- how are these being managed regionally in the US and Canada?
• How advanced are clean energy solutions across Canada & USA- is collaboration across jurisdictions in the States and Canada required to reduce the reliance upon fossil fuels?
• How to identify and model risks and to encourage private and institutional investors to invest in more purposeful projects using enhanced de-risking mechanisms
• Examining the US and Canada’s decarbonisation roadmap and likely problems with a 2050 target
• How can real estate and infrastructure investors increase their allocation to climate solutions whilst reducing exposure to carbon intensive companies?

Facilitating a nature positive transition: How are investors managing nature related risks and opportunities across their organisational strategy- stewardship, stakeholder engagement and disclosure?  

• Systemic change and biodiversity frameworks: How can sustainable investors collaborate with investee companies to protect natural capital, and what actions are needed from the financial sector based on the latest Global Biodiversity Framework and TNFD recommendations? 

• Leveraging frameworks: How can investors utilize frameworks like TNFD, informed by TCFD knowledge, to better allocate capital and assess biodiversity risks and opportunities? 

• Impact of deforestation: What is the material impact of deforestation on portfolios, and how can investing in biodiversity and green infrastructure enhance asset value? 

• ESG investing: How can ESG investing unlock natural capital and what are the benefits of adopting TCFD reporting compared to methodologies in the US and Canada? 

• Nature-based carbon offsets: What role do nature-based carbon offsets play in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and are they a viable interim solution despite measurement challenges?

What role could bitcoin play in sustainable finance? 

Is Bitcoin Mining a Challenge or an Opportunity for Decarbonisation?

Physical Climate Risk: Adapting to systemic risks from physical climate impacts involves integrating top-down asset allocation and risk management with bottom-up security selection. Climate change, from floods affecting housing prices to shifts in ecosystems impacting agricultural productivity, causes macroeconomic shocks. These impacts can alter export sectors, trade balances, and capital flows, adding pressure to public finances and increasing risks to macroeconomic stability, public debt, and the global financial sector. Governments must manage these evolving risks and uncertainties, focusing on economic resilience through diversification and collaborative efforts with investors to meet climate targets and mitigate physical climate risks.
• Climate scenarios and portfolio resilience: How can climate scenarios build resilience across asset
classes, and which face the biggest transition challenges?
• Regional variations in climate risk: What are the challenges for investors dealing with varying physical
climate risks across regions?
• Biodiversity and infrastructure risks: How should investors factor in biodiversity impacts and threats to
energy infrastructure from extreme weather events?
• Supporting emerging markets: How can sustainable investors foster rapid and inclusive development in
emerging markets, ensuring vulnerable populations have the resources needed for adaptation and
mitigation?

This panel will explore how double materiality is transforming sustainability reporting by integrating impact and financial reporting into a unified process. This shift, driven by the CSRD, will require U.S. companies to obtain
limited assurance on their materiality analyses, which could extend reporting timelines. The panel will also examine California’s leadership in new ESG laws, including rigorous climate disclosure requirements for both public and
private companies, and consider how New York might follow suit with similar legislation.
• Will the convergence of voluntary reporting frameworks enhance stakeholder engagement?
• How are SEC, ISSB, CSRD, and GRI frameworks influencing Scope 3 data reporting?
• How do the EU, California, and ISSB disclosure frameworks compare with TCFD standards?
• What are the impacts of the SEC’s March 6 ruling and ISSB standards on climate disclosure?
• How will the SEC’s new climate disclosure rules and Scope 4 targets shape future reporting practices?
• Are complex Scope 3 emissions a barrier to achieving Paris-aligned net-zero targets?
• How advanced are clean energy solutions in Canada and the USA, and is cross-jurisdictional
collaboration required?
• How can investors effectively model risks and encourage investments in purposeful projects with
enhanced de-risking?
• What challenges do the US and Canada face in meeting their 2050 decarbonisation goals?

Investing to disrupt hard-to-abate industries with breakthrough solutions in a scalable way

Fixed income is emerging as a crucial channel for transition financing in the pursuit of climate goals. As one of the largest sources of global finance, should bonds play a more significant role in the net-zero transition? How can sustainability be effectively integrated into fixed income portfolios while balancing risk and return? As private debt investment presents a growing opportunity to support the financing of the energy transition how can it play more significant role?

This panel will discuss:

• How can sustainability be effectively integrated into private debt portfolios while balancing financial risk and return?
• Can private debt funds offer a viable path for investors to meet their sustainability goals?
• What are the challenges of sustainability integration across private debt?
• What are the challenges of ESG integration across different investment portfolios, including fixed income, real estate, and equities?
• How can a structured approach to credit investing support climate goals and align portfolios with the Paris Agreement?

• How can green infrastructure investments drive both impactful and profitable climate-friendly outcomes?
• Can private sector involvement in infrastructure planning and construction alleviate public funding
constraints for the green transition?
• Will life insurers and pension funds play a crucial role in mobilizing private capital for green infrastructure
and real estate?
• How can managing ESG factors create value opportunities in green infrastructure and real estate
projects?
• What are the latest updates on Infrastructure Canada’s 2023-2027 Sustainable Development Strategy
and its impact on green infrastructure?
• How is the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal advancing green and social infrastructure in the US for a just
transition to net zero?
• What are the most effective risk mitigation techniques for addressing physical climate risk?

Banks have a crucial role in supporting a just transition to net zero economies and clearer frameworks are needed to meet the opportunities and challenges. Private sector involvement is essential to mobilise the trillions of dollars necessary to transition to an inclusive net zero economy. Examining how the responsible investing community are collaborating to enact effective long term sustainable practices.

• What constitutes social investing? What are the rates of return on social investing- examining the key data sets for positive social change
• Examining how a growing number of financial institutions are working to address the lack of a common investing framework for achieving a just transition, raising concerns over fragmentation of such initiatives
• Achieving a ‘just transition’ is now widely cited across finance, business and politics as a necessity in respect of the global push for a lower-carbon economy. Broadly, this is the concept that everyone must benefit – or at least no one should lose out economically – from the shift to net-zero emissions
• Challenges with the financing of a just transition to net zero- examining public and private capital deployment strategies
• How to design policies based on dialogue and engagement with all parts of society
• Update on the just transition work programme and transition pathways established at COP27 and what to expect at COP29– highlighting the need for whole-of-society approaches to a sustainable future, that are inclusive, equitable and just

• Has future policy uncertainty, technological costs, rising capital costs, and data limitations created unattractive risk-return profiles?
• To what extent is private climate finance helping emerging economies meet Paris Agreement goals?
• The private sector is skilled at managing project implementation risks but less equipped to handle policy risks or investments in easily replicable innovations. How can this be improved?
• How can MDBs (Multilateral Development Banks) in the region be incentivized to take on more risk by leveraging public finance to unlock private capital?
• Can blending finance catalyse adaptation by bridging the financing gap through effective risk mitigation and leveraging both public and private capital in the region?
• How is the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) being developed? Will its ratification and formalisation during COP29 accelerate the mobilization and blending of public and private finance?