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Emerging ESG challenges: setting realistic ambitions for the financial sector

Emerging ESG challenges: setting realistic ambitions for the financial sector

Day 1 Afternoon

Wednesday 23 February

Room :

NORMANDIE (-1 floor)

Speakers

Chair
Sylvie Goulard
Second Deputy Governor - Banque de France
Public Authorities
David Craig
Co-Chair & Founder - Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)
Adama Mariko
Secretary General of the Finance in Common movement - Agence Française de Développement (AFD)
Mario Nava
Director General - DG for Structural Reform Support, European Commission
Olaf Sleijpen
Member of the Board, Executive Director of Monetary Affairs - De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB)
Industry Representatives
Gemma Corrigan
Head of Policy and Advocacy - Federated Hermes (UK) LLP
Thierry Martel
Chief Executive Officer - Groupama
Stefanie Ott
Head Group Qualitative Risk Management - Swiss Re Management Ltd
Snorre Storset
Head of Asset & Wealth Management - Nordea Bank Abp

Background and objectives of the session

The EU Green deal has ambitious objectives for climate, but also for the fight against pollution and waste, the development of a circular economy and the reverse of the alarming decline in ecosystems and biodiversity. Additional investments to address these objectives are estimated at 130 € billion per year. These objectives will be progressively included in the EU taxonomy.

These objectives are also political priorities for for the global community; they are part of the 21 Sustainable development goals agreed by the United Nations in 2021. The preservation of biodiversity has also been discussed at the COP 15 in Kumming, which should reconvene in a near future.

The financial sector has started to work on these issues, even on biodiversity, with initiatives like Finance for Biodiversity Pledge, the Taskforce for Nature-related Finance disclosures (TFND) etc.

This session will be dedicated to assess the challenges emerging in the 4 environmental fields of biodiversity, water, pollution and circular economy and to discuss the consequences for the financial sector. It will then discuss the best operational way to address these new challenges and to overcome its concrete difficulties.

Questions to be addressed during the session

  1. Emerging ESG challenges (biodiversity, circular economy etc) : what is at stake ? What are the actual priorities and the consequences for the financial sector ?
  2. What are the policy options available to better involve the financial sector regarding the additional ESG challenges ? How to avoid overburdening the financial sector -and indirectly non-financial firms- which could be counterptoductive ? How to develop public-private partnerships which seem indispensable in these areas ? What are the sustainability policies still missing ?