Friday, September 27, 4pm – 5.30pm, followed by Cocktail Reception 5.30pm – 6:30pm
The New York Climate Exchange, Building 309 (309 Clayton Rd), Governors Island
Climate change poses significant risks to all aspects of society, and therefore the economy, and the financial markets. To fulfill investment duties asset owners and managers will have to take action in the real-economy to address the root causes of climate change – including engaging policymakers in support of predictable, reliable and effective policy change. Banks will also have to ensure their lending aligns with the goals of the Paris Accord and SDGs – particularly in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) which need an estimated $2.4 trillion a year. Multilateral and national banks have a core mobilizing role. Governments – particularly Ministries of Finance – have a key role to play in coordinating the transition to a low carbon economy, using a ‘whole of government’ approach via national transition planning.
This New York Climate Week event, hosted by the New York Climate Exchange, and organized by the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action and the World Bank, consists of a series of panels to discuss how governments can lead on the transition agenda, regulators can support it, and the institutional investors and banks can follow.
Registration is required for the event.
The event will be held under Chatham House Rules.
Format: The event is an invitation-only in-person event for about 80 participants. It will consist of three panels, each of which will start with a series of on-line questions which will be posed to the audience, with speakers reacting to the results. The event is followed by a cocktail reception.
Agenda
Introductory Remarks: Steve Hammer, CEO, NY Climate Exchange
Panel 1: National Transition Planning – role of governments in leading the transition agenda (25 minutes)
Description. Achieving the ambition of the Paris Agreement will require a fundamental rewiring of the economy. Every government and every company will need to think strategically about how to respond and contribute. Capital will also need to be mobilized at speed and scale. Strategic transition planning will be essential. To date, the focus has been on private sector planning. This is not sufficient. Given the scale of transformation required, climate action will need to be embedded into almost every aspect of government strategy at national, sub-national and local levels. Clear, coherent, and coordinated government policy will also give companies and capital providers confidence to invest in the transition. This will require that the next iteration of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) incorporate the key elements of a strategic national transition plan – with stronger strategic orientation; a deeper focus on whole-of-government planning; and coherent policies, pathways and investment plans that target a just, equitable, low-emissions, climate resilient, economy, in the context of countries’ sustainable development and growth priorities. Furthermore, these plans should be part of a wider integrated transition planning ecosystem. They should incorporate mechanisms to direct, finance, incentivize, coordinate, and enable whole-of-economy action. An integrated transition planning approach will reduce uncertainty, help to allocate resources and capital more effectively, and build trust – supporting delivery against government objectives, and crowding-in and scaling private finance to accelerate the transition.
Moderator: Ms. Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis, Visiting Assistant Professor of Finance, Cornell University
Speakers:
- Ms. Masyita Crystallin, Co-chair Deputy for the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action
- Mr. Tom Beloe, Director at UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub
- Ms. Alice Carr, Executive Director, Public Policy and JETPs, GFANZ
Panel 2: Institutional Investors’ role in addressing systemic climate risks and creating investment opportunities (25 minutes)
Description. Institutional investors recognize that they are facing substantial and imminent climate-related risk. However, it is difficult for them to take climate action as a risk-mitigation approach as such risks are, as yet, difficult to estimate, which is required for action under their Fiduciary Duties. In addition, it is not clear what institutional investors can actually do about these risks. Portfolio risk management tools such as hedging are unavailable or too costly. As governments are the main actors required to deploy public policy to address systemic issues, institutional investors who are genuinely concerned about these issues can engage in policy advocacy through both corporate and ‘systemic’ engagement. The best way to leverage institutional investors’ deep pockets to fund the climate financing gap is to create investment opportunities out of climate solutions; this can be done through macro policy (laws, taxes, subsidies, etc.) or at a project- or investment-level through blended finance (guarantees, co-investments, etc). If and when the case can be made for ‘public good investments as insurance policy’ the size of funds which could be mobilized collectively by global institutional investors is substantial (in the hundreds of billions).
Moderator: Ms. Lisa Sachs, Director, Colombia University Centre Sustainable Finance
Speakers:
- Mr. John Adler, Head of ESG for five public pension funds, NYC Comptroller
- Mr. Jon Lukomnik, Managing Partner, Sinclair Capital
- Mr. Swami Venkataraman, CFA, Associate Managing Director - Sustainable Finance, Global Head of Assessments, Moody’s Ratings
Panel 3: Role of banking sector in supporting climate financing (25 minutes)
Description. EMDEs face a significant gap in financing for climate investment opportunities. Just 14 percent of total climate finance flows reach emerging market and developing economies other than China, even though these countries represent about one-quarter of global gross domestic product. Because banks dominate the financial sector landscape in EMDEs, with more than 80 percent of financial sector assets, they will inevitably have a large role to play in financing climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. Yet at the moment EMDE banks provide far too little of that financing. According to a World Bank Group survey, climate financing is 5 percent or less of the lending portfolio for nearly 60 percent of EMDE banks – with 28 percent providing no climate financing at all. To address these issues, banking authorities are adopting novel approaches to manage climate-related financial risks and enable climate finance. The challenge for EMDE banking authorities is how to enable more climate finance without compromising their primary financial stability objective, while also continuing to support financial inclusion.
Moderator: Ms. Saskia de Vries, Practice Manager, Financial Stability, World Bank
Speakers:
- Mr. Yann Marin, Head of the Secretariat NGFS/ Banque de France
- Mr. Matthew Cullinen, Vice President, Global Sustainability, HSBC
- Mr. Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Capital Development Fund
Cocktail Reception: 5.30pm – 6:30pm (60 minutes) – all panelists / participants