THE SPIRIT OF THIS WEEK BRINGING TOGETHER SUSTAINABILITY, THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION, ULTIMATELY THROUGH THE POWER OF MARKETS AND THE ECONOMY, IN THE SERVICE OF THE IRISH PEOPLE...AND TO THE BENEFIT OF THE WORLD
Mark Carney
UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance
Quote from CFWI20
As action 1 of the 2021 Ireland for Finance Action Plan, “Building on Resilience” the development of Irelands Sustainable Finance Roadmap signifies government’s commitment to advancing Ireland’s sustainable finance agenda. Ireland's ambition is to be a leader in this space by 2025.
Working with over 50 key stakeholder organisations across Ireland's financial services industry, Sustainable Finance Ireland and Skillnet Ireland, in collaboration with the Department of Finance led the development of the roadmap over a six-month period, culminating in the launch at Climate Finance Week Ireland 2021.
The roadmap is a key milestone in our sustainable finance journey as a nation. Built as a living document to evolve and guide Irish sustainable finance activities in the context of the European Green Deal and the Renewed Strategy for Financing the Transition to a Sustainable Economy, for the coming years.
In association with Department of Finance, UN Convened FC4S and Sustainable Finance Ireland. Supported by Skillnet Ireland.
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Given the seriousness of the biodiversity crisis and forthcoming Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, hear how asset managers are taking steps to integrate biodiversity criteria into their asset management strategies. This session will also provide an overview on initiatives aiming to provide asset owners and asset managers with frameworks, information, and groups through which to engage have made significant progress over the last year, including the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
Organised in association with the TFND and the UN-convened Financial Centres for Sustainability. Supported by the Sustainable Finance Skillnet.
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A discussion with Alan Barret and Governor Makhlouf.
Organised in association with the Department of Finance
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ESG, the opportunity and impact for aircraft leasing
As we enter post covid, ESG will be taking centre stage in the aviation world again. There is a rowing political, industrial and regulatory appetite to improve environmental performance within the aviation sector. The industry has set extremely challenging targets to meet net zero carbon goals, including a 50% reduction in emissions by 2050.
It is no surprise that investors will increasingly favour aviation businesses with high ESG ratings — signaling more resilience and creating long-term business bets. In our discussion, we will look at ESG incentives in financing and investment to present an opportunity for the aviation industry to shake off its reputation for greenwashing and positively impact environmental sustainability over the long term while generating shareholder returns.
Along with the opportunities, we will cover the impact and the challenges too. Aviation businesses and lessors should expect more in-depth sustainability reviews. ESG factors likely to be considered when assessing investments include carbon footprint, employment equity, suppliers and consumer protection, business ethics, board diversity and executive pay.
This event will open with a scene-setting presentation by KPMG, followed by a panel discussion. A deeper dive half-day event will take place mid-January, which will build on this initial discussion.
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The popularity of ESG investing is escalating year on year, moving from a niche to dominant strategy. What are the main factors driving this increase in popularity and are female investors at the wheel or just on the journey with everyone else? Join us for this engaging panel event with expert input discussing what impact females have on the growing trend towards ESG Investing and investigating if they really are a key driver.
Organised in association with Ireland’s 100 Women in Finance Next Gen Committee.
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This panel discussion will explore the current state of play of the corporate governance framework, addressing its potency in 2021. Join panellists as they discuss the material role ESG factors play in safeguarding a company’s long-term success, creating wide stakeholder value and satisfaction, and maintaining strong reputation and accountability standards.
Organised in association with Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF).
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The COVID-19 pandemic has brought social issues to the forefront of the ESG agenda, yet with integration of social performance data is still lagging it’s environmental and governance peers.
This session will explore upcoming trends in terms of social taxonomies and regulation in Europe and the UK, as well as concrete examples of how investors are using S indicators in their investment decision making, and what types of data to be looking out for.
Join us to hear from legal experts, investors rating agencies and data providers alike on how to really start acting on the S.
Organised in association with UN PRI and the Irish Association of Asset Managers (IAIM).
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Organised in association with KPMG.
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A session, organised in cooperation with Temporis, discussing COP26 and the role of finance and offshore wind energy in delivering on Ireland’s energy targets and its net zero ambitions. A key goal of COP26 will be to secure global net zero by mid-century. From an energy perspective this means accelerating the transition from petroleum and coal to clean power. Ireland has already made commitments and therefore our focus needs to be on delivery – the electrification of energy and the harnessing of our best natural resource, our outstanding offshore wind. The offshore sector is only emerging in Ireland and presents a real opportunity for the Irish economy to develop clean power for Irish consumers while benefitting jobs, workers, and communities. To maximise the potential for an Irish offshore wind industry Ireland needs to mobilise finance in concert with visionary public policy support.
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Organised in association with UN Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI) and Insurance Ireland.
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FINANCING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: The role of business in delivering on Net-Zero
"As we approach UN COP26, the financial sector is stepping up on climate action with enhanced climate-risk reporting and adopting net-zero strategies. One year on from Ireland's endorsement of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, companies are not only implementing the TCFD recommendations but are also looking ahead to the actions needed to achieve net zero.
In advance of the publication of the TCFD's annual status report, join us for a virtual event in partnership with Climate Finance Week Ireland 2021, featuring a high-level dialogue on how Irish and European firms are taking concrete steps to reduce their carbon footprint.
This event takes place on the Bloomberg platform - REGISTER HERE
Join us for a discussion on:
• What has been achieved and what needs to be done to ensure a smooth transition
• How can the TCFD framework support companies' net-zero transition plans
• What are companies doing to integrate climate-related risks - into their day-to-day business operations to reach net-zero targets
The event will also feature a breakout session following the panel discussion with Bloomberg sustainable finance experts to discuss what a "good" net-zero target looks like, how are investors comparing these targets, and examples of best practices when setting up net-zero commitments."
Organised in association with Bloomberg and the Department of Finance.
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• Francine Lacqua, Editor-at-Large, Bloomberg TV
• Mary L. Schapiro, Vice Chair of Global Public Policy, Special Advisor to the Founder and Chairman, Bloomberg
• Colin Hunt, CEO, AIB
• Imelda Hurley, CEO, Coillte
• Kasper Elmgreen, Head of Equities, Amundi
• Stéphane Boujnah, CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board, Euronext N.V
• Pat Cox, Ambassador, Sustainable Finance Ireland
• Michael R. Bloomberg, U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions. Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies. 108th Mayor of New York City
• Kyle Harrison, Head of Sustainability Research, BloombergNEF
• Murat Bozdemir, Regulatory, Risk & Climate Data Product Manager, Bloomberg
• Patricia Torres, Global Head of Sustainable Finance Solutions, Bloomberg
This event takes place on the Bloomberg platform - REGISTER HERE
Organised in association with UN Principles for Responsible Banking and the Banking & Payments Federation of Ireland.
Supported by Sustainable Finance Skillnet.
The banking sector in Ireland is at the core of the climate transition, supporting customers to move away from dependence on carbonising and polluting activities and to avail of the opportunities of greener economic activities. BPFI recognises that banks, as intermediaries and advisors, will finance the transition to a carbon neutral future, delivering on EU and national climate objectives. Both domestic and international banking members are already well advanced in integrating ESG criteria into business and investment decisions. This panel discussion will explore best practice in the integration of ESG into banking institutions. Speakers from AIB and from TD Global Finance will discuss with BPFI CEO Brian Hayes, their banks’ robust and sophisticated approaches to achieving their Net Zero commitments.
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• Brian Hayes, CEO, BPFI – Moderator
• Laura Quinn, Managing Director, Head of Primary Markets, TD Global Finance
• Yvonne Holmes, Chief Sustainability Officer, AIB
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Organised in association with the Green Digital Finance Alliance (GDFA) and the Fintech and Payments Association of Ireland (FPAI).
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Panel discussion focussing on data challenges and evolution of the data ecosystem and forward-looking commentary on what the funds industry and the Roadmap for Ireland initiative is doing to position Ireland to solve these data and digital challenges
Organised in association with Irish Funds.
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Organised by Sustainable Finance Ireland.
The webinar is linked to the IAA paper ‘Climate-Related Scenarios Applied to Insurers and Other Financial Institutions’, and will present the regulatory perspective on the paper to a wider audience.
Moderator: Will Harding, SIF Head of Implementation
Introductory comments: Anna Sweeney, SIF Chair, Executive Director – Insurance, Bank of England
Panellists:
• Rade Musulin, Vice-chair of the IAA Resource and Environment Virtual Forum
• Joe Kennedy, Non-Life Actuarial Director, PwC Ireland (member of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland's Sustainability and Climate Change Steering Group)
• Cheng Wei Ng, Deputy Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore (SIF member representative)
Organised in association with the UN-convened Sustainable Insurance Forum (SIF), the International Actuarial Association (IAA) and the Society of Actuaries in Ireland.
Organised in association with the FSI.
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Introducing the Nature Trust, the not-for-profit offering nature-based solutions of the highest standard and setting a new benchmark for sustainable investment in Ireland. This new initiative has started the ambitious journey of planting native woodlands at scale in communities across Ireland through partnership with business. This discussion will explore the challenges and opportunities for ESG investment in tackling the climate and biodiversity crisis, and avenues for taking the action which is urgently needed.
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Discussion moderated by Helen Carroll.
www.naturetrust.ie
Investors, customers, employees and financial institutions are increasingly using ESG data to inform themselves about a company’s environmental and social activities. A lack of standardisation means this information is often incoherent, inconsistent or not comparable. This session will examine the recent key developments in sustainability reporting, the global trend to make sustainability reporting mandatory for more entities as well as the calls for common reporting standards to ensure sustainability information reported by companies is comparable and sufficient. You will also hear from industry experts who have adopted sustainability reporting within their businesses and they will share how they are informing stakeholders about their sustainability activities.
Organised by Chartered Accountants Ireland.
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The aim of the Green Team Network is to address the need to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration regarding addressing sustainability goals across companies within the Irish Funds industry. We have developed the Green Pledge which aims to be a tool to encourage and support firms within the Irish funds industry to take steps to reduce carbon emissions and take action on sustainability issues that affect them. To participate in the Green Pledge, firms select from a list of environmentally.
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The surge in sustainable bond issuance has been supported by growth in the range of underlying debt instruments including green, social, sustainability and sustainability linked bonds. This session will explore key developments in sustainable finance debt markets.
Organised by S&P Global Ratings.
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Organised in association with KPMG
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Many thanks for registering, you will receive an email confirmation, calendar reminder and updates closer to the event.
